There have been few fighters in UFC history who have donned the badge and walked the thin blue line whilst trying to pursue a successful career in the world’s leading MMA promotion. Of those who have tried, nearly all have failed. Ninjitsu ex…
There have been few fighters in UFC history who have donned the badge and walked the thin blue line whilst trying to pursue a successful career in the world’s leading MMA promotion.
Of those who have tried, nearly all have failed.
Ninjitsu exponent Steve Jennum may have won UFC 3 due to a series of absurd events but ultimately, he was only 2-4 in his career.
Sean Gannon—the man who felled legendary street fighter Kimbo Slice in an infamous YouTube brawl and was signed by the UFC for his efforts—had his UFC career begin and end in one fight—a TKO loss to the unremarkable Branden Lee Hinkle at UFC 55.
Other officers have come and gone, none as notable as Jennum or Gannon (and to those who mention Forrest Griffin and Tim Sylvia, the former left the police before he went to the UFC and the latter joined the police force after he left the UFC), but UFC 147 co-main event fighter Mike Russow has a chance to carry their torch Saturday night, and make it burn brightly in the memories of all MMA fans.
He’s undaunted by the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master he is set to face, Fabricio Werdum, the man who truly defeated the legendary Fedor Emelianenko for the first time and is even more indifferent about the fact that he must face the Brazilian in his home country.
“Honestly, it really doesn’t bother me,” said Russow at the UFC 147 media conference call, at which Bleacher Report was present.
“I’m the underdog, all the pressure is on [Werdum]. It really doesn’t bother me, what the fans are doing. I really don’t hear them anyway. Especially once the referee says ‘go.’ I really don’t even hear my coaches, so it that’s not gonna bother me at all.”
Russow’s background as a Chicago police officer might be responsible for his calmness in the face of such duress and adversity, but surely the act of being both a police officer and full-time fighter must be exhausting both mentally and physically, no?
On that topic, Russow gives some ground and admits that he’s no superman; it’s tough to perform well at two demanding professions.
“It’s very tough working both jobs, but I’ve been doing this since like ’07 or ’08 so I’m used to it now with two careers,” he said.
“[O]bviously, the competition is getting a lot harder. But our camps our pretty much the same. Train in Chicago, I got great coaches…It really is the conditioning I think. I know fighters say each time…but I really believe that my conditioning is the best for this fight coming up Saturday.”
Such a remark about conditioning might garner sneers from some of the more cynical MMA fans out there, since Russow is notoriously…corpulent for a man who fights in the Octagon. Granted, he’s no Roy Nelson, but he’s not a chiseled work of art, either.
However, that’s part of Russow’s appeal as a fighter and why he’s carrying the torch first picked up by Steve Jennum and later carried by Sean Gannon—two men who didn’t exactly have body builder physiques themselves.
Mike Russow is the average man, and the average police officer trying to make his way through the sport—the same way Jennum and Gannon were.
Yeah, there have been (and are) other lawmen who’ve graced the Octagon such as Paulo Thiago, Forrest Griffin, Andrei Arlovski and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, but they were both muscular and didn’t have the everyman appeal that Russow does.
When people looked at a prime Andrei Arlovski (ripped to shreds, bearded, with fangs) or a prime “Cro Cop” (massively muscular), it was a given that they were tough and could smash people.
But when people saw the doughy Russow against better-looking fighters like Todd Duffee, it was almost laughable. Yet Russow managed to win 15 fights and lose only one!
Most recently, he beat former ADCC champion Jon Olav Einemo, a feat which Russow said did wonders for him psychologically, especially since he’s facing another fearsome Jiu-Jitsu fighter and ADCC champion in Werdum.
“I think it really boosted my confidence going against a guy like Jon Einemo…I know [Werdum], he’s a lot more active and is very good, but I definitely think it helped my confidence,” he said.
Still, it’d be wrong to typecast Werdum as just a Jiu-Jitsu fighter. In Werdum’s first UFC run, such a statement might have carried more weight. But more recently, Werdum has sharpened his striking skills, a fact which Russow is aware of.
“From watching film on him, especially his last fight with Roy Nelson, I think his stand-up is a lot better, very good with the Muay Thai and the clinch, going for knees. He’s gonna be a tough guy,” said Russow.
If Russow can defeat a fighter of Werdum’s caliber, it could do wonders for his career. It would be his 11th straight win and his UFC record would stand at 4-0. Russow would make himself the best of the brave yet physically less than impressive, and he might be only a fight or two away from a title shot!
But lofty notions do little to the mind of Mike Russow.
“I’m really just focused on the fight. I really don’t want to look past anything. I just wanna get through Saturday and shock everybody. ” he said.
And shock everybody he might—the same way Jennum shocked the world at UFC 3, the same Gannon shocked Youtube by beating Kimbo Slice and the same way Russow has already been shocking the uninformed UFC fans by racking up win after win, proving that it’s not the muscles that make the man.
(Minowaman vs. Shlemenko. Sorry Seth, this is what you get for taking the weekend off.)
At the minimum, last night’s Super Fight League 2 card was a small, albeit significant, improvement over the upstart promotion’s first card. The fact that Bob Sapp was not participating already ensured this. Yes, it was still riddled with the goofy, often laughably bad commentary of Phil Baroni and some other guy who I don’t really care to look up at the moment, but overall, it was able to deliver more action and dramatic finishes than this weekend’s Bellator card could account for, and considering it was free, who are we to complain? If only they could get rid of those awkward crowd shots.
But before we get to the most exciting finish, perhaps we could focus on the oddest one– Alexander Shlemenko’s first round TKO of Ikuhisa Minowa. Minowa continued his rough streak against recognizable-named opponents this morning, and it looks like he could be on the shelve for a little longer than usual this time around. For the first couple of minutes, the fight was vintage Shlemenko, featuring more spinning death attacks than a tornado in an axe factory. Minowa simply had no answer for “The Storm” on the feet, and was stalked around the cage until around the two minute mark, when Shlemenko was able to land a well timed knee to Minowa’s skull that sent him reeling backward.
Minowa seemed to be alright, reaching for a leg log in the moments afterward, but when Shlemenko was able to pull out from danger, Minowa suddenly curled up in the fetal position with an apparent rib injury. No word yet on exactly how bad he is hurt, but we’re going to guess that the injury was more, you know, real, than the quad injury that felled Sapp in his main event clash against James Thompson at SFL 1. The announcer not named Phil Baroni was kind enough to inform us that Shlemenko has now fought 13 times in the past two years. That is fucking insane. And speaking of insane, Shlemenko’s thirst for his well deserved rematch against Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard might just be driving him a bit loony. After defeating Minowa, Shlemenko gave what was perhaps the greatest post fighting interview of all time, calmly stating, “Hey India. Hector, I kill you.” If only Lombard could come to an agreement with the Bellator brass, perhaps we could watch these two throw down again.
The Duffee/Grove video, along with the full results are after the jump.
(Minowaman vs. Shlemenko. Sorry Seth, this is what you get for taking the weekend off.)
At the minimum, last night’s Super Fight League 2 card was a small, albeit significant, improvement over the upstart promotion’s first card. The fact that Bob Sapp was not participating already ensured this. Yes, it was still riddled with the goofy, often laughably bad commentary of Phil Baroni and some other guy who I don’t really care to look up at the moment, but overall, it was able to deliver more action and dramatic finishes than this weekend’s Bellator card could account for, and considering it was free, who are we to complain? If only they could get rid of those awkward crowd shots.
But before we get to the most exciting finish, perhaps we could focus on the oddest one– Alexander Shlemenko’s first round TKO of Ikuhisa Minowa. Minowa continued his rough streak against recognizable-named opponents this morning, and it looks like he could be on the shelve for a little longer than usual this time around. For the first couple of minutes, the fight was vintage Shlemenko, featuring more spinning death attacks than a tornado in an axe factory. Minowa simply had no answer for “The Storm” on the feet, and was stalked around the cage until around the two minute mark, when Shlemenko was able to land a well timed knee to Minowa’s skull that sent him reeling backward.
Minowa seemed to be alright, reaching for a leg log in the moments afterward, but when Shlemenko was able to pull out from danger, Minowa suddenly curled up in the fetal position with an apparent rib injury. No word yet on exactly how bad he is hurt, but we’re going to guess that the injury was more, you know, real, than the quad injury that felled Sapp in his main event clash against James Thompson at SFL 1. The announcer not named Phil Baroni was kind enough to inform us that Shlemenko has now fought 13 times in the past two years. That is fucking insane. And speaking of insane, Shlemenko’s thirst for his well deserved rematch against Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard might just be driving him a bit loony. After defeating Minowa, Shlemenko gave what was perhaps the greatest post fighting interview of all time, calmly stating, ”Hey India. Hector, I kill you.” If only Lombard could come to an agreement with the Bellator brass, perhaps we could watch these two throw down again.
Perhaps no fighter has fallen farther, faster, in the past couple years than Todd Duffee. We all know the story: After blistering Tim Hague in just six seconds in his UFC debut and subsequently landing on the pages of damn near every muscle fitness catalog on the market, Duffee’s hype train was derailed, as if by Lawrence of Arabia himself, at UFC 114, when Mike Russow scored one of the greatest comebacks of all time by knocking him out cold in the third round. Duffee was dropped by the UFC shortly thereafter for supposed attitude problems, and would get steamrolled by Alistair Overeem at K-1 Dynamite: Power of Courage on New Year’s Eve the following year. This morning marked the first time in nearly two years that we had seen Duffe in action, and it only took him thirty seconds to show us that the dude can still throw with some serious power, as he ran through UFC and Bellator veteran Neil Grove without breaking a sweat.
After a feeling out process that was too short to remember, a staple of Grove’s fights, Duffee landed a right hand so powerful that it apparently imploded the ringside announcers microphones upon impact. Seriously, that hook came from farther away than Jeremy Stephens’ home run uppercut of Rafael Dos Anjos, but there was simply nothing that Grove could do. A few follow up punches sealed the deal, and Duffee earned his third fastest paycheck to date. Well, fourth if you count the Overeem loss, but the money he made that night didn’t even cover the open heart chest surgery he had to undergo (no, not really), so we’ll call it even.
He might not be ready for another run in the UFC, but there’s no denying that Duffee’s speed and heavy-hands could prove to be the undoing of many a heavyweight if he manages to keep his own head on straight. Time will tell.
Check out the full results from SFL 2 below.
Todd Duffee defeats Neil Grove by KO, Round 1
Colleen Schneider defeats Cherie Buck by TKO, Round 2
Ricky Singh defeats Salika Senanayake by TKO, Round 1
Anup Kumar defeats Dilanga Rathnaveera by Submission, (Rear Naked Choke, Round 2) Alexander Shlemenko defeats Ikuhisa Minowa by TKO, Round 1
Bharat Khandare defeats Soro Ismael by TKO, Round 1
Pierre Daguzan defeats Chaitanya Gavali (29-28)
Ryan Healy defeats Paul Kelly (30-27)
Super Fight League made a huge splash in March when they held their inaugural fight card in Mumbai. In the main event Bob Sapp faced James Thompson in a Super Fight which ended with Sapp tapping to a takedown. Initially believe to be a knee injury, it …
Super Fight League made a huge splash in March when they held their inaugural fight card in Mumbai. In the main event Bob Sapp faced James Thompson in a Super Fight which ended with Sapp tapping to a takedown. Initially believe to be a knee injury, it turned out that “the Beast” tapped to a leg cramp. Brutal stuff!
On Saturday, Super Fight League returns for their second show and the level of talent is exponentially greater the second time around. Featuring recognizable names such as Minowaman and Todd Duffee, the second outing will surely be better for the new promotion.
Super Fight League is the first fight promotion in India and hopes to eventually create and cultivate a fan base from the country’s one billion person population.
Full Card
Paul Kelly V Ryan Healy (LW) Chaitanya Gavali V Pierre Daguzan (FW) Bharat Kandare V Soro Ismael (FW) Alexander Schlemenko V Ikuhisa Minowa (Minowaman) (MW) Anup Kumar V Dilanga Rathnaweera (Catchweight 132lb) Ricky Singh V Shalika Senanayake (LW) Colleen Schneider V Cherie Buck (Catchweight 130lb) Todd Duffee V Neil Grove (HW)
CagePotato Roundtable is a new recurring column in which the CagePotato writing staff (and some of our friends) share their opinions on an MMA-related topic, and hopefully inspire some discussion among our readers as well. For the inaugural installment, we took inspiration from Joe Rogan’s enthusiastic crowning of last weekend’s Tim Boetch vs. Yushin Okami fight as “the greatest comeback in the history of the UFC.” That’s debatable, to say the least — but isn’t everything? So what *was* the greatest comeback fight in MMA history?
Seth Falvo
When Joe Rogan first called The Barbarian’s victory the greatest comeback in UFC history, my first thought was “Come on, Joe, are you seriously the only MMA fan who hasn’t seen Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Bob Sapp?” That comeback exposed Sapp for the overhyped freak that he was while establishing the legend of Big Nog and his ability to come from behind to win fights. Hell, we at Cagepotato consider it to be the best freak show fight to ever come out of Japan. But in fairness to Joe Rogan, that fight didn’t take place in the UFC. So my second thought was “Come on, Joe, are you seriously the only UFC fan who hasn’t seen Mike Russow vs. Todd Duffee?”
What makes this comeback so great was the fact that Todd Duffee and Mike Russow were essentially photo negatives of each other. Before this fight, Duffee was destined to be the next big thing in the UFC’s heavyweight division, having just tied the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history in his promotional debut against Tim Hague. Duffee was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness, the poster boy for Muscletech and seemingly in every men’s magazine on the planet — no matter how loosely the content was related to sports. Meanwhile, Russow was quietly coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Justin McCully in his UFC debut and had more fat in his left bicep than Todd Duffee had in his entire body. Everything about this fight seemed like it was a squash match.
CagePotato Roundtable is a new recurring column in which the CagePotato writing staff (and some of our friends) share their opinions on an MMA-related topic, and hopefully inspire some discussion among our readers as well. For the inaugural installment, we took inspiration from Joe Rogan’s enthusiastic crowning of last weekend’s Tim Boetch vs. Yushin Okami fight as “the greatest comeback in the history of the UFC.” That’s debatable, to say the least — but isn’t everything? So what *was* the greatest comeback fight in MMA history?
Seth Falvo
When Joe Rogan first called The Barbarian’s victory the greatest comeback in UFC history, my first thought was “Come on, Joe, are you seriously the only MMA fan who hasn’t seen Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Bob Sapp?” That comeback exposed Sapp for the overhyped freak that he was while establishing the legend of Big Nog and his ability to come from behind to win fights. Hell, we at Cagepotato consider it to be the best freak show fight to ever come out of Japan. But in fairness to Joe Rogan, that fight didn’t take place in the UFC. So my second thought was “Come on, Joe, are you seriously the only UFC fan who hasn’t seen Mike Russow vs. Todd Duffee?”
What makes this comeback so great was the fact that Todd Duffee and Mike Russow were essentially photo negatives of each other. Before this fight, Duffee was destined to be the next big thing in the UFC’s heavyweight division, having just tied the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history in his promotional debut against Tim Hague. Duffee was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness, the poster boy for Muscletech and seemingly in every men’s magazine on the planet — no matter how loosely the content was related to sports. Meanwhile, Russow was quietly coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Justin McCully in his UFC debut and had more fat in his left bicep than Todd Duffee had in his entire body. Everything about this fight seemed like it was a squash match.
And for the first two rounds, it was. You could almost see the dollar signs in the eyes of Muscletech CEOs as Duffee smashed away at the doughy Russow, seemingly seconds away from a stoppage throughout the fight. Yet out of nowhere, Russow landed a hard straight right that crumbled Duffee, earning him the victory and single-handedly killing all of his hype.
(Not only am I getting paid for writing this, I’m taking a charitable tax exemption for sharing the video with you as well. -CC)
A shot of bourbon and this highlight video. That’s how a man starts his day.
I don’t know what comeback fights these other cats are trying to sell you as “the greatest ever,” but they are wrong. That honor belongs to Kazushi Sakuraba‘s war with Kestutis Smirnovas at K-1 Hero’s 6 — all of the evidence you need is right above if you don’t believe me. Still not convinced? Let me ask you a couple of quick questions:
Did their comeback fighters rebound from a “Falling Tree” KO?
Sakuaba did. Just forty seconds into his bout with Smirnovas, ol’ #39 was felled like a mighty oak then rattled with punches as his limp body crept out of the ring beneath the ropes. Rather than call the fight off, the referee, on sabbatical from a lucrative career producing snuff films, dragged “The Gracie Hunter’s” lifeless corpse back into the ring for another helping of abuse.
Did their comeback fighters score with a hail mary haymaker or a last-ditch submission?
Sakuraba didn’t. The tide wasn’t turned by a swing for the fences, nor did he snag an arm in a wild scramble. He simply fought back. Then he fought back some more. After absorbing a world of hurt that should have resulted in numerous stoppages, Sakuraba came out of rigor mortis with nothing but his will to fight intact. He gave as good as he got, hurting Smirnovas on the feet and finishing him on the mat with an armbar.
That’s a comeback fight, men.
Ben Goldstein
Boetsch vs. Okami could never be the greatest comeback fight in UFC history, because frankly, Boetsch vs. Okami doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. For a fight to be considered the best anything, the stakes have to be high to begin with. That’s why Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 is my pick here.
Now, if you showed this fight to an MMA newbie, they probably wouldn’t get it; keep in mind that Silva vs. Sonnen was dominated by long stretches of one guy just lying on top of the other. And honestly, if these were two unknown fighters, we would have forgotten about this match the next week. What made the bout legendary is who these fighters were, and how profoundly the fight subverted our expectations.
Imagine buying a ticket to Rocky IV, and in the climactic battle, Rocky beats the shit out of Ivan Drago for eleven and a half rounds before the invincible Russian, with both his eyes swollen shut, throws a blind haymaker and turns Balboa’s lights out. Roll credits. That’s how bizarre this fight was. The guy who was supposed to get blown out was the one doing the blowing-out — until suddenly, he wasn’t. And that’s not to say that Chael Sonnen was anybody’s hero going into that fight. But he was a 4-1 underdog, and nobody was giving him a chance to win against the foreign champion who seemed more Machine than Man.
As I watched the fight with some buddies at a sports bar in New York — where every takedown and knockdown scored by Sonnen caused the patrons to erupt in stunned “OHHHHHH!”s — I realized that sports fans love to see an underdog do well, even if that underdog is one of the biggest heels in the sport. And no matter which team we’re rooting for, we like it when something completely unprecedented happens. But then, two minutes away from one of the greatest title upsets in the sport’s history, Sonnen’s Cinderella story abrupty ended with a triangle choke that nobody saw coming. And the champion was still the champion. And I guess we were supposed to feel happy about that.
Was the final result in itself that suprising? Of course not, considering Anderson Silva’s extra-dimensional brilliance and Chael Sonnen’s history of being submitted by Brazilians with that very same move. But no comeback fight has come close in terms of sheer drama, and I’m not sure we’ll see anything like it again.
Jefferey “Karmaatemycat” Watts
Have any of you guys ever been inadvertently kicked in the junk? I have, and it completely sucks. It can, in most cases, change the outcome of a fight! I would like to remind you of that fateful day in which Matt Hughes’s testicles were introduced to Frank Trigg’s knee during their second meeting at UFC 52. There was some crazy hype leading into this fight to begin with. Frank Trigg had really been laying on the smack talk leading up to their rematch, which was rather obvious when Mario Yamasaki brought them to the center of the cage. Then Hughes ate a knee to the groin a minute and ten seconds into the first round. I mean, that just sucks, but not as much as having the referee not see the low blow.
Then to make matters worse, Frank Trigg swarmed Matt Hughes! Trigg even established a full mount and was pounding away at Hughes. It was, to say the least, a very bad situation for Hughes as he proceeded to give Trigg his back so that he could survive the situation. A lot of guys are going to tell you this or that, but let me tell you rule #1 in a fight: Survive one situation so that you can attempt to survive the next. That’s exactly what Hughes did. I would wager a bet that Frank Trigg thought he had Matt Hughes locked in that RNC. God knows a lot of other people sure did. But being the Hughes nutthugger I am, I remember screaming and willing him to defend that choke. I was jumping off my couch, biting my lip, and cheering stereotypical MMA Fan stuff. I sure as shit did not expect Hughes to just grab Trigg and charge across the ring and slam him. Then he continued to beat the piss out of him, get his back, and rear naked choke Trigg.
To me, that’s always been a great example of fighting out of tough positions. Matt Hughes really showed his worth that night. I just don’t know a lot of welterweights at that time in the UFC who would have been able to take a shot to the groin, as well as all those shots from a mount, defend those submissions, and then have the energy to get up and slam his opponent, all while finishing him in the first. Just an all-around epic comeback. I mean, that shit’s right out of a Tarantino, Rodriguez film. Not even Xeno could argue that.
Jason Moles
Those are all great mentions, guys, but none compare to the exhilarating experience of watching the Immovable Object square off against the Unstoppable Force. I’m talking Roger Huerta vs. Clay Guida at the TUF 6 Finale back in ’07. “The Carpenter” dominated the opening round with his aggressive attack and breakneck pace. The fight didn’t stay on feet long until Clay took Roger to the mat and ground-and-pounded him into giving up his back, which lead to Guida’s rear naked choke attempt, and even more damage dished out to close out the round.
Round two started with Guida smothering “El Matador” like a wet blanket; with every “Toro!” shouted, the bull rushed in to gore his opponent. Without missing a beat, Guida continued his destruction of Huerta on the canvas, highlighted by a massive uppercut that sent him flying backward. Rocked and on Quiver Street, the horn at the end of the round saved Roger Huerta from certain doom.
And then something happened. I’m not sure if Huerta’s corner told him that Clay had sodomized his brother or what, because “El Matador” came out looking to hurt someone. In that first minute, he was more active and aggressive than GSP has been in all of his fights combined. (What? Rogan can jizz his pants about Tim Boetsch but I can’t get away with a little hyperbole?) Whatever, I digress. Huerta threw a perfectly timed knee, staggering the man who had just bullied him for the past ten minutes, and then swarmed Guida until he fell into the fetal position, allowing Huerta to sink in a rear naked choke to end the fight fifty-one seconds into the final round.
Jared Jones
Scott Smith is one of my favorite fighters. There, I said it. Sure, he fights with the strategy of a cokehead playing Tekken for the first time, but the man has been a part of some of the most poetic brawls in the history of the sport, and practically defines the comeback with his every performance. You know, except in his last three fights, or the Diaz fight, or the Lawler fight…
…anyway, you could make the case that his flash KO of Pete Sell was his greatest comeback, and I’d probably be inclined to agree with you. However, it was Smith’s third round drubbing of Benji Radach back at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz that will forever remain one of my most treasured MMA moments.
After dropping Radach in the first round, Smith would rush in for the kill, only to find himself reeling from a perfectly placed counter right. Midway through the second, he was put on queer street compliments of a Radach left hook, and the end seemed all but imminent. As he slumped onto his stool heading in between rounds, Smith couldn’t help but tell his cornerman that he was in fact rocked, a revelation that most fighters are often too stubborn to admit. But as the Phoenix rises from the ashes of its former self, Smith would cough up some blood, wipe off his face, and enter the third round like a man possessed.
With just under 2 minutes to go, Mauro Ranallo remarked that Smith would need a knockout to win the fight. About ten seconds later, Smith would do just that, delivering a brutal right hand that sent Radach crashing to the mat in a pile. A follow-up right sealed the deal, and earned Smith the unofficial nickname of “The Comeback Kid,” a moniker he would prove worthy of in his come-from-behind victory over Cung Le the following December. Perhaps I’m just a sap, but watching Smith embrace his kids in the center of the cage after scoring the biggest victory of his career (at that point) was one of the more heartfelt moments I’ve seen in MMA, and made the fight all the more significant. At least in my eyes.
So what’s *your* favorite MMA comeback fight? Let us know in the comments section. If you have a question for a future Roundtable column, send it to [email protected], and we’ll send you a t-shirt if we decide to use it.
(Big stakes for both fighters if this one happens.)
We’ll preface this story with the disclaimer that it’s simply a rumor at this point, but word on the street is that Todd Duffee may be the next opponent in line for Fedor Emelianenko.
According to a post on Fedor’s official website, “The Last Emperor” has been taking some time off to nurse a thigh injury and likely won’t fight until the summer against a “former UFC legend.” Sure it’s a stretch to say that Duffee is a UFC legend, but remember that these are those Crazy Russians talking and what else are they going to advertise him as, the ripped dude that got knocked out by that flabby Mike Russow guy?
(Big stakes for both fighters if this one happens.)
We’ll preface this story with the disclaimer that it’s simply a rumor at this point, but word on the street is that Todd Duffee may be the next opponent in line for Fedor Emelianenko.
According to a post on Fedor’s official website, “The Last Emperor” has been taking some time off to nurse a thigh injury and likely won’t fight until the summer against a “former UFC legend.” Sure it’s a stretch to say that Duffee is a UFC legend, but remember that these are those Crazy Russians talking and what else are they going to advertise him as, the ripped dude that got knocked out by that flabby Mike Russow guy?
What propagated the rumor, and it might be merely a coincidence, was that both Emelianenko and Duffee announced in the past 24-hours that they have “big news” to announce soon, presumably regarding their next respective fights. Considering that the once dominant Russian has been scraping the barrel of opponents since being dropped by Strikeforce following back-to-back losses to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume he’s fighting “The Duffman” next. Wins over an aging fighter like Jeff Monson and a future middleweight like Satoshi Ishii hardly convinced anyone that the old PRIDE-era Fedor is back. Not that a win over Duffee would silence his critics, but at least it would be a win over a fighter under 40 who is an actual heavyweight.
According to Duffee’s Wikipedia page, the fight is set for May, however M-1 mentioned last month that Fedor would likely fight next at a planned Monaco event in the summer, so take the news with a grain of salt.
Duffee hasn’t fought since being knocked out by Alistair Overeem at Dynamite!! 2010 back on December 31 of the same year. That fight was his first post-UFC outing after he was unceremoniously dropped following the loss to Russow. A win over Emelianenko could put him on the fast-track to an Octagon return.
On the flip side, a loss to Duffee would likely mean the end of Emelianenko’s once storied career.
Two questions: Are you guys interested in this fight, and if it does happen, who do you see taking it?
There have been few fighters in UFC history who have donned the badge and walked the thin blue line whilst trying to pursue a successful career in the world’s leading MMA promotion. 
