Phil De Fries Draws Returning Todd Duffee as New UFC 155 Opponent
When Shane Carwin dropped out of The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale headliner opposite Roy Nelson due to a knee injury, the dominoes began to fall.
Matt Mitrione stepped out of his UFC 155 bout with Phil De Fries to face Nelson. Just a few days later, the UFC has already lined up a new opponent for De Fries.
Keeping him on the UFC 155 fight card, UFC officials confirmed to the Las Vegas Sun on Wednesday that De Fries will now face returning Octagon veteran Todd Duffee.
Duffee (7-2) hasn't set foot in the Octagon since losing to Mike Russow in May 2010. It wasn’t the loss that forced his exit, however. UFC president Dana White, at the time, said that Duffee was released because of an attitude problem.
He has since gone 1-1, losing to Alistair Overeem in Japan, but then rebounding with a win over Neil Grove in India.
De Fries enters the fight with a 9-1 record. Stipe Miocic knocked him out earlier this year to hand De Fries his first loss, but he rebounded with a submission of Oli Thompson at UFC on Fox 4 in August.
UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez headline the UFC 155 fight card on Dec. 29 in Las Vegas.
Stay tuned to MMAWeekly.com for all the latest UFC 155 news and updates.
