UFC 114 Preview: The Main Card

Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow

Childhood fans of He-Man have finally found their MMA avatar in the walking muscle magazine advertisement known as Todd Duffee, an undefeated heavyweight whose knack for first-round stoppages already has the UFC building him into its next homegrown superstar. No such hype accompanies Mike Russow to the cage, but he’s long been a quality heavyweight gatekeeper with the caliber of wrestling to give excessively hyped prospects issues.

Duffee, a real-life Prince Adam, isn’t a product of careful marketing machinations, however. He’s genuinely mutant cobra venom to one-dimensional wrestlers like Russow. No knock on Russow, but beyond a solid single-leg takedown and some good secondary techniques, he doesn’t have much to offer Duffee. Even scoring a takedown will be problematic because he doesn’t set up his level changes at all and often relies on pressing opponents against the cage to finish takedowns.

It’s going to take an explosive first step that Russow doesn’t have to successfully attack Duffee’s legs. Getting into tie-ups with Duffee against the cage does the Chicago native no favors. Those physical battles that Russow is accustomed to winning actually favor Duffee’s superior athleticism and underrated Greco-Roman clinch skills. Considering Russow’s tendency to overcommit to leg attacks, Duffee will have plenty of time to counter by grabbing the over/under control he favors and working the grinding, close-quarters game he used to pelt Assuerio Silva.

This all assumes Russow will get close enough to affect the pace of the fight, which ignores his ineffective striking and telegraphed takedowns. If Duffee gets the timing down on Russow’s attacks, it’s a matter of time before he catches him in the same fashion that led to his record-breaking seven-second KO of Tim Hague.

That instant addition to the highlight canon has created the misconception that Duffee is a supreme striker, but he actually uses his striking more to set up level changes and clinch tie-ups. While Duffee doesn’t have the wrestling background of Russow, he makes up the difference with an alchemical combination of quick feet and brute strength that most heavyweights are unaccustomed to dealing with. Russow just isn’t the sort of fundamentally astute wrestler that will give Duffee problems, and he lacks the finishing skill to maximize any takedowns he does score. Ignore his high percentage of finishes: Russow’s ground-and-pound is more a nuisance than anything, and his submission transitions are equal parts sloppy and rehearsed.

Still, a solid wrestler with some offensive skills is going to be a tough match for most -- just not for Duffee, who has Russow beat in every facet of the game. Expect to see a more realistic representation of Duffee’s style, as he moves in and out on Russow with power punches before slamming him down and finishing with a ground-and-pound siege. Whether or not this fight will be a suitable meal for Duffee or a mere appetizer is anyone’s guess.