Todd Duffee ends retirement, set to face Phil De Fries at KSW 79 for heavyweight belt
Todd Duffee will be making a comeback.
Duffee announced on The MMA Hour on Wednesday that he is ending his retirement and has signed with the Polish promotion KSW. Along with that, the UFC veteran will be making his debut for the heavyweight belt against Phil De Fries on February 25 at KSW 79, which serves as a rematch.
“Who else are you going to call to besides an American to come save the heavyweight division for KSW?” Duffee joked on The MMA Hour.
Todd Duffee (9-3 and one No Contest) has not fought since September of 2019 when he fought at UFC Vancouver when he took on Jeff Hughes. The fight ended in a No Contest due to an accidental eye poke in the first round and decided to announce his retirement from the sport. Prior to the fight against Hughes, Duffee had lost fought in 2015 when he suffered a first-round KO loss to Frank Mir.
Duffee had been in the UFC since 2009 and went 3-2 and one No Contest including scoring a first-round TKO win over De Fries at UFC 155. His other two wins were against Anthony Hamilton and Tim Hague. Although he had six fights in the UFC, in the middle he left for two fights and fought in Dynamite for the inaugural heavyweight belt against Alistair Overeem where he lost by KO in 19 seconds. He then took on Neil Grove at SFL 2, a year-and-a-half after the loss to Overeem and won by TKO in 34 seconds and returned to the UFC.
Phil De Fries (22-6 and one No Contest) has defended KSW’s heavyweight title seven times and is coming off a submission win over Ricardo Prasel. During his title reign in KSW, De Fries has notable wins over UFC veteran, Darko Stosic, Tomasz Narukin, and Luis Henrique. The 36-year-old went 2-3 in the UFC as well as going 1-0 in Bellator but since signing with KSW, the Brit is a perfect 8-0.
