After recording the fastest knockout in UFC history against Tim Hague, Todd Duffee instantly propelled himself to the top of UFC’s hype ladder. He had to defend that hype in a battle with the powerful Mike Russow.
Would Duffee earn a “for real” label from announcer Joe Rogan? Or, would Mike Russow use wrestling and strength to neutralize Duffee and score a surprise victory?
The result follows:
The fight ended in a knockout. But contrary to what many likely expected, the victor was not Todd Duffee. Instead, Mike Russow surprisingly earned a knockout victory midway through the third and final round.
Early in the fight, Duffee showed no trouble shaking off Russow’s takedown attempts and connected with some hard shots to the face. Russow, however, absorbed all of them, revealing a fantastic chin that put Duffee’s strategy of going for a big knockout in jeopardy.
As the first two rounds played out, Duffee simply could not put Russow away, and his strategy appeared to produce a combination of fatigue, frustration, reservation and possible pain to the hands. The result was a much more conservative Duffee, who by round three, was being far more selective and cautious in throwing bombs at his opponent.
Then, midway through the third round, Duffee ducked his head on a strike attempt, and Russow countered with a punch that sent Duffee flat to his back. Russow threw a follow-up shot as Duffee was falling, but it did not really connect–nor did it need to do so. Duffee was out, and Russow was the victor.
Mike Russow b. Todd Duffee via knockout (punch) at 2:35 of Round Three
