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Todd Duffee agrees to meet Phil De Fries at UFC 155 in Octagon return

Todd Duffee agrees to meet Phil De Fries at UFC 155 in Octagon return - MMA Fighting

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Quote:

He's baaaaack.

More than two years after he was unceremoniously released from the UFC, Todd Duffee has signed a new deal with the promotion and will fight Phil De Fries at UFC 155 next month in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Sun first reported the news Wednesday, and it was later confirmed by the UFC.

The 26-year-old Duffee was released in Sept. 2010, almost four months after he was knocked out by Mike Russow at UFC 114. Duffee knocked out Tim Hague in just seven seconds in his Octagon debut at UFC 102 in Aug. 2009.

UFC president Dana White told MMAFighting.com at UFC 119 that the UFC released the heavyweight because of his bad attitude.

"The biggest problem that I have with Todd Duffee is his attitude," White said. "You guys don't see, you don't know. I deal with tons of guys. We have hundreds of guys under contract. I've had thousands of guys under contract over the last ten years, and Todd Duffee, to me, doesn't seem like he wants to be in the UFC. He doesn't like being in the UFC. Let him go fight in the smaller organizations and work his way back up, if he even wants to work his way back up to the UFC.

"He's got a horrible attitude. He can still go back and train and fight in these smaller leagues and work on his skills and attitude."

Apparently, Duffee has done just that.

Since his release, Duffee went 1-1 outside of the UFC. Alistair Overeem knocked him out in 19 seconds at Dynamite!! 2010, and he needed just 34 seconds to TKO Neil Grove at Super Fight League 2 in April.

A slot opened up for the 26-year-old after Matt Mitrione, who was originally scheduled to fight De Fries at UFC 155, agreed to replace Shane Carwin against Roy Nelson at The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale next month. De Fries (9-1, 1 NC) is 2-1 inside the Octagon, most recently submitted Oli Thompson at UFC on FOX 4.

UFC 155, headlined by Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez 2, will take place Dec. 29 in Las Vegas.

Not totally surprising, seeing that it was his attitude that him fired the first time. I'm wondering what the ceiling is for Duffee-hopefully we'll get a chance to find out the second time around.

I'll be incredulous towards Duffee and his career potential until he passes a few tests and not the ones that occur INSIDE the octagon.

Wonder if he'll still be a dick

This is a must win fight for him. I'm betting if he does manage to keep it standing and wins, he talks a lot about being thankful for the opportunity in the post-fight interview.

rh

Bit interested to see him back. Good for him

The guy gets more press/hype then he should a highlight reel KO from a few years ago should only go so far. He fights far to infrequently to be mentioned as much as he is.

^ Agreed, I think he's unlikely to become a ranked fighter. Even if he makes it through tests like Fedorlei pointed out. I don't even find him to be a super exciting fighter either, he's fairly quick but sloppy in his striking and wings for KOs.

That said, he glad he gets the chance to prove me wrong.

Oh, and Fe1 - why must you post sigs that make me cry?! :(

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnchorPunch (Post 986068)

Oh, and Fe1 - why must you post sigs that make me cry?! :(

Why exactly does it make you cry? Are you a Kampmann fan or are you afraid for GSP? :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fe1 (Post 986089)

Why exactly does it make you cry? Are you a Kampmann fan or are you afraid for GSP? :D

LOL well played, sir.

Kampmann is probably my favorite fighter active today, definitely top 3.

So in the last 2 years he has fought just 2 times. One of those fights was a 19 seconds KTFO loss to Overroid, and the second was a Tko victory over a guy that is not a Top 25. Now he is back in the UFC!

By that logic Arlovksy should be already challenging Cigano for the title.