"That was an appetizer, Dana. Let me eat."
So said undefeated American Top Team prospect Todd Duffee after his seven-second storming of Tim Hague at UFC 102. It was one of the most fearsome debuts in UFC history, and Duffee made it clear afterwards that he wanted to get right back into the cage to show fans what he’s really capable of. And it looks like the UFC has found him a suitable challenge for his follow-up performance.
MMA Junkie is reporting that Duffee (5-0) will return at UFC 107 (December 12th, Memphis) to take on seasoned striker Paul "The Headhunter" Buentello (24-10). Buentello previously had a four-fight stint in the UFC in 2005-2006, where he scored stoppage wins over Justin Eilers, Kevin Jordan, and Gilbert Aldana, but suffered a knockout loss to Andrei Arlovski in a heavyweight title fight at UFC 55. Following his exit from the Octagon, he went 3-1 in Strikeforce, with his sole loss coming at the hands (and knees) of Alistair Overeem in a fight for Strikeforce’s heavyweight title. Now, the Headhunter is coming off back-to-back victories in Affliction over Gary Goodridge (via decision) and Kirill Sidelnikov (via third-round TKO).
In other words, Buentello is a fighter who’s never quite reached the top levels of the sport, but who could give any up-and-comer a bad night. Sounds like a perfect test for Duffee, and it could be one of the surprise highlights of the UFC 107 card, which currently looks like this:
BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez (for lightweight title)
Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida (LW)
Cheick Kongo vs. Frank Mir (HW)
Thiago Alves vs. Paulo Thiago (WW)
Paul Buentello vs. Todd Duffee (HW)
Alan Belcher vs. Wilson Gouveia (MW)
Kevin Burns vs. T.J. Grant (WW)
this comment of the week thing is inspiring a lot of really not funny posts. just want to point that out.