Todd Duffee Knows What He Did Wrong Against Mike Russow at UFC 114
by Nate Wilcox on Jun 2, 2010 10:00 AM EDT
in MMA Technique
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Todd Duffee postied this comment on the UG:
.I wasn't gassed i was more frustrated and trying to stick to the game plan should of threw that out after the first 30 seconds ...my game plan was horrible......i wasn't snapping punches instead i was muscling them should of kicked should of grappled should of fought....I'll be back and show I am more than capable of wrestling etc
I'm so glad to see Duffee realizes that his biggest failing in the Russow fight was doing nothing but head hunting. He really needs to expand his offensive palette. He threw the jab/uppercut combination over and over and over again. Other than the handful of head kicks that he threw, Duffee acted like he was in a boxing match. And even in boxing they throw to the body. Russow's saggy gut was virtually begging to be punched and Duffee ignored it, drawn in by visions of a quick KO.
Duffee urgently needs to work with a coach who can impart some tactical and strategic thinking to Duffee. He remains a young athlete of tremendous promise, but we've seen that he has some serious limitations to his game.
He can clearly wrestle given how easily he shrugged off Russow's every attempt to shoot in or even lock up a clinch. I'd love to see Duffee grab a collar tie and work some dirty boxing or lock in the Thai plum and work some knees to the body.
I think the kid just showed his inexperience and a little bit of difficulty adapting and adjusting mid-fight. This fight should be a great learning opportunity for Duffee and I expect him to come back even better. He is clearly a bright and well spoken kid with his head on right, he'll figure it out.
As for Russow, damn that dude is tough. I am really looking forward to seeing him again. I've been day dreaming of Russow vs Gonzaga or Kongo. We've seen what that tough Chicago cop is made of, now let's see what he can do.
Gif of Russow's big punch in the full entry.
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lol. Nicely done.
Not that I condone facism or any ism for that matter. Isms are in my opinion, not good. A person shouldn't believe in an ism, he should believe in himself.
I quote John Lennon, "I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me". Good point there, after all he was the walrus. I could be the walrus. Wouldn't change the fact I have to bum rides off of people.
I won't be in there alone
I was one of the few that didn’t hop on in the first place…
That said I do like him and his potential more now than I did before.
Obviously his sprawl was great, and his hands and footwork looked really good. As the article said, he just needs a gameplanner to coach him.
i’d need to see his sprawl tested by a HW wrestler who has a half-decent shot. Russow, like many HW wrestlers, doesn’t have good leg-takedowns, and probably most of his wrestling matches, like many HW wrestling matches, were two fat guys clinching trying to topple eachother. HW wrestling sucks: i know this is only anecdotal, but during my years of HS wrestling, we twice had a HW state placer (whom was actually not fat), and both those years, he was owned constantly in practice by both out 189 and 215 pounders, neither of whom made it past the first round of states.
Fortunately for Duffee, there are only 2 HWs right now with distance-closing shots, Cain and Brock.
by Stillberry on Jun 2, 2010 10:42 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Good points.
I think Duffeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee might have a couple things working in his favor: the EASE with which he sprawled, his low striking stance, and his fast footwork. He also looked pretty fresh at the end of the third round before the KO, so his gas tank looks good. But yeah, somebody with a great shot would be a good test.
Russow has more than a half decent shot. For as soft and fat as he came in at UFC 114, Russow is a big, agile HW who was a good collegiate wrestler who did more than stand and clinch in the center of the mat. He just couldn’t get anywhere near Duffee because Duffee’s striking was on target, and Duffee was also very fast and had great hips.
i don’t know any specifics of Russows wrestling career, but even in college, a distance-closing shot is not a requirement for HW success, as long as you have a good fatman sprawl, ask Cole Konrad. And i disagree about Russow being an agile HW for MMA; he’s not a complete plodder, but i can’t pull the name of a top 25 HW who isn’t more agile than Russow and would have any trouble stopping that weak clutch-single he was trying against Duffee. Even with Duffee just headhunting the whole time, Russow never once attempted to significantly change levels and go for an agility-based shot.
I don’t feel that Duffee’s hype train was derailed, but I think that it just took a detour. For one, the tools that he was showing were definitely next generation Heavyweight like using a jab (too many MMA fans are under-rating this because not many Heavyweights use a jab), having movement and footwork in the standup, and not getting taken down. The other thing is that he is only 24. After Velasquez, JDS, Carwin, and Lesnar sit in the top for a while, I feel that the next to challenge those guys will be Duffee, Schaub, possibly Mitrione, possibly Barry, and any other Heavyweight that starts coming up. There is just too much potential there and most are young enough. Duffee, despite getting KOed, showed that these athletic and quick Heavyweights are the next Heavyweight in MMA.
Nit-pick point:
Mitrione is already in his mid-30s. He’s highly athletic, but his shelf-life is short.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Jun 2, 2010 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions
That train got derailed by a guy who’s body consistency is over 80% doughnut; I’m not sure that train is going to be able to get on the tracks again.
Got the Summer hatin on me cus I'm hotter than the sun. Got the Spring hatin on me cus I ain't never sprung. Winter hatin on me cus I'm colder than ya'll; and I will never I will never I will never Fall.
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
by Patrick Tenney on Jun 2, 2010 10:20 AM EDT up reply actions
Then you really aren’t looking at the right things. To me, it seems that the only thing that you are looking at is the KO, but nothing before that. It is disingenuous not to look at something as simple as that Duffee was using a jab, had footwork and movement, was quick, and defended takedowns with ease.
I wrote a post on other fighters who have been KOed clean and came back better. Brendan Schaub TKOed Gormley on his next fight after getting KOed by Nelson. Rafael Dos Anjos has looked very good after getting tiger-upper-cutted by Jeremy Stephens. Many forget that that after getting KOed by Tim Sylvia and losing his subsequent rubber match, Arlovski went on the best win streak of his career beating Cruz, Werrdum, O’Brien, Rothwell, and Nelson (of course, he hasn’t looked good now, but that could be contributed to age and not evolving with the sport). Manny Gamburyan is on his best win streak and possible Title contention after getting KOed by Rob Emerson.
There are more examples too of fighters doing better than before after getting KOed clean if you want to hear them. Seeing the evidence, I have little reason to believe that with Duffee’s youth, and just what he has shown so far, that he won’t go far in the UFC Heavyweight division.
Maybe the most obvious example: GSP post-Serra. And like Duffee, GSP was expected to dominate, and had a much larger body of work to base that prediction on.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Jun 2, 2010 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, I know what you mean, but I wanted to point out fighters that were cleanly KOed because GSP was TKOed by Serra.
Fair enough, but I think it fits the scenario. Man, I don’t mean to be following you around being snarky in these comments; it just seems to happen!
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Jun 3, 2010 9:13 AM EDT up reply actions
I love the small hammerfist at the end of the fight. Matt Serra would be proud
by WestbergIDFC on Jun 2, 2010 10:11 AM EDT reply actions 3 recs
That was hilarious.
The feminine hammer punch made everyone at the bar laugh. But it was a classy thing because Russow saw that he was out and could of inflicted more damage but didn’t. Respect!!
I couldn’t stop laughing and rewound the tape a few times to watch it again and again but in reality that was a really nice thing he did because those situations are where the most damage is done to the brain of the fighter
How did I end up on this bandwagon and why does everything say property of Chael Sonnen?
Is Xtreme Couture to blame? Sadollah lost too.
by MMAInFeRioRiTy on Jun 2, 2010 10:13 AM EDT reply actions
Are both guys cornered by XC trainers? I know Sadollah does tons of training with Beecher, which I think is at the Tapout gym.
Duffee had Mike the Criminal Whitehead in his corner, which is a red flag.
Fighters lose
No matter who is cornering them the fighters still have to get in the cage and fight.
by Worldisart on Jun 2, 2010 10:28 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
his ground game was competitive enough.
its the tdd. it’s hard against someone like kim. he has solid singles and doubles on top of foot sweeps, throws from the clinch, ect.
absolutely
I was honestly impressed that Amir kept finding his way back to guard and on occasion, his feet.
I like him
and I hope he does well in the future, he’s still a machine that completely dominated that fight. Hopefully it doesn’t turn out that his chin is some kind of liability because otherwise I still think he could make some major noise in the HW division.
Training BE since January 2010
Nah, Russow’s got big-fat-guy power, and hit him clean. Russow, on the other hand, looked like Cabbage against Tim Silvia; it was like movable brain trauma, and he just wouldn’t go down.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Jun 2, 2010 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Maybe they'd give him the loser of Mexecutioner/Meathead
that’d make sense.
Training BE since January 2010
Arlovski
Duffee vs Arlovski, UFC 120, “Nap Time.”
English is my third language but I’m pretty sure that there’ no such thing as "should of, could of ". So, watch out Mr Duffee, you’re giving bad examples!
"...ride life straight to perfect laughter,
it's the only good fight there is."
*there’s (chunk of food under my “s” is killing me).
"...ride life straight to perfect laughter,
it's the only good fight there is."
by dancingChicken on Jun 2, 2010 10:35 AM EDT up reply actions
To be honest Todd
I think the worst thing you did in the fight was getting knocked the fuck out, but that’s just me.
Training BE since January 2010
most vicious ground and pound in mma?
"Justice is the whim of a judge, check his chest density
It leaves much room for error, and the rest left to destiny."
-Sage Francis
by DamnSevern on Jun 2, 2010 10:47 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs
That ground and pound is charming.
"...ride life straight to perfect laughter,
it's the only good fight there is."
by dancingChicken on Jun 2, 2010 10:49 AM EDT up reply actions 7 recs
It looks like he didn't want to hit him too hard in case it woke him back up.
Training BE since January 2010
by Fake Emcee on Jun 2, 2010 10:52 AM EDT up reply actions 4 recs
I still don't understand why Duffee was so conservative.
When Duffee was landing those huge shots through the whole fight, but then backing off, I kept thinking of how Brock uses his brute force with such incredible violence. When you can so thoroughly overwhelm your opponent with strength and speed, you need to end the fight as soon as possible. Russo is a 205 pounder with 45 pounds of fat hanging off of him. The only way an athlete like Duffee loses to a guy like Russo is when the athlete has no idea how to take advantage of his athleticism.
The only thing I can think of is that Duffee for some reason had zero confidence in his submission defense because he was hurt or something.
by Manzanillos Cup on Jun 2, 2010 11:16 AM EDT reply actions
hurt?
how bout he had no confidence in his submission defense because Russow has about 20 years more groundfighting experience than Duffee?
If I recall, Duffee has quite a bit of jj experience.
I understand the whole “technique and skill trump athleticism” argument, but Duffee isn’t some muscle-man brawler. He’s put in his time in the gym for quite a few years, and IMO there is no way that he gets owned on the ground by Russo.
And if not the ground, how about trying shoving the dude into the cage at least once. Like the Duffee says, it was just a stupid game plan.
by Manzanillos Cup on Jun 2, 2010 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Duffee has been training JJ for 4 years, and apparently (according to wikipedia) got a black belt from Robert Drysdale in 3 1/2 years. I find that incredibly hard to believe. Even so, Russow has been wrestling since he was 10, which makes 24 years, and has been doing JJ for at least 12 years. I don’t want to question the belt-awarding of Drysdale, but something tells me that either wikipedia is wrong on that, or that Duffee’s black belt has a lot to do with his ability to look good on magazine covers. It’s all speculation without hard truth, but I suspect Duffee wanted no part of Russow on the ground, regardless of 4 years of training.
Yeah, it was obvious from the pre-fight talk
And, to a certain extent, from the fight itself, that Duffee really respected Russo, and acknowledged the experience gap between them. I guess my point wasn’t that Duffee should have gone for take downs early, so much as he should have just gone for the kill.
Anyway, hindsight is 20-20 and all that.
by Manzanillos Cup on Jun 2, 2010 12:38 PM EDT up reply actions
A week ago Wikipedia said Duffee got a black belt from some fictional Irish guy at some fictional gym
Duffee talked about it on the SRN. I don’t think he actually has a black belt.
Should of...should of...should of
Should have practiced better defence.
Should have seen that punch coming.
But more important, should have paid more attention in English class.
nah
paying attention in English class got you a 9-to-5 (i’m just assuming, tell me if i’m wrong) and the ability to correct someone’s grammar. while you were paying attention, Duffee was secretly working out his leg muscles and daydreaming about knocking fools out.
As discussed a bit earlier by Stillberry and coming from a wrestling background, I concur that heavyweight wrestling is FAR less technical than those in lighter weight classes. The general trend has been that as weight goes up, technique goes down. Russow may have a stellar wrestling career but he sure didn’t show it in this fight. His shot consisted of reaching for a leg with out lowering his level, stepping forward and penetrating or cutting the corner. I would be much more impressed if Duffee could shrug off a more polished takedown artist as I certainly did not see it from Russow.
P.S.- Russow has the best GnP EVA!
someone please tell me why russow’s build makes a differance? as long as a guy can/does get the job done it shouldnt matter if they eat a box of milkduds in between rounds or not. give the man his due.
Well, regardless of his weight or stature, his due is that a guy with a fraction of his experience as a fighter clobbered him up and down for two rounds before he landed a hail mary punch.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Jun 3, 2010 9:14 AM EDT up reply actions
the relevance of Russow's build
is that he could lose 30 pounds of fat and then cut weight to make 205. The guy isn’t even a true heavyweight.
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