Rising heavyweight prospect Todd Duffee (6-0, 1-0 UFC) will meet well-traveled veteran Mike Russow (12-1 1-0 UFC) on May 29th in Las Vegas at UFC 114. MMA Junkie confirms the original scoop from the Times of Northwest Indiana:
The bout was first reported by The Times of Northwest Indiana's Caged In MMA site, and MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has since confirmed that both fighters have verbally agreed to the matchup, and bout agreements are expected to be signed shortly.
Duffee was very impressive in his UFC debut with his lightning-fast, brutal KO of Tim Hague, although we really didn't get to see much of his skill-set aside from his killer instinct. Nonetheless, the Hardcore Gym and ATT prospect has been seriously talked up on the southern MMA circuit for several years and with his looks, he could turn out to be a big blue-chip for the UFC if he continues to perform like he did against Hague at UFC 102.
Russow will be a good sophomore test for Duffee with his veteran experience and dangerous submission skills. Although he hasn't faced the stiffest of competition in his career, he also has only one loss on his record, and that was nearly three years ago.
UFC 114 now includes:
Quinton Jackson vs. Rashad Evans
Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow
Efrain Escudero vs. Dan Lauzon
[UPDATE] by Nick Thomas - Diego Sanchez (23-3) vs. John Hathaway (13-0) also set for UFC 114: