· Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow & Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway Likely For UFC 114
UFC 114 has not been officially announced by UFC officials, but the card is taking shape with several matchups reported possible for the lineup. Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez is expected to make his return to the welterweight division in a matchup with John Hathaway. Meanwhile, Todd Duffee, returning from injury, is reported to be facing Mike Russow in a heavyweight tilt. UFC 114 has a tentative date of May 29 and will take place in Las Vegas, Nev. The grudge match between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans is targeted for the main event of the evening.
Sanchez first reported from his Twitter page that he would be facing Hathaway, while the Duffee vs. Russow matchup was reported by the Times of Northwest Indiana's Caged In MMA site. None of the matchups have been made official by UFC executives at this time.
Todd Duffee (6-0) last competed at UFC 102 in August. He earned the fastest knockout in UFC history with a seven second KO of Tim Hague. Just six fights into his UFC career, every one of his wins have come by knockout or TKO with none of his matches lasting longer than two minutes into the second round. He was originally scheduled to fight Paul Buentello at UFC 107 in December but suffered an injury and withdrew. Stefan Struve took his place and defeated Buentello by majority decision. Russow (12-1, 1NC) has only one UFC appearance, but has won his past eight fights with just one loss in his career to Sergei Kharitonov. He holds notable wins over Jason Guida, and Justin McCully.
Diego Sanchez (21-3) was the number one contender to the lightweight title this past December when he faced off with current champion B.J. Penn. After being beaten decisively for four rounds, the fight was stopped early in the fifth when Sanchez suffered a gash on his forehead that was opened by a head kick. The defeat would prove Sanchez's final fight at lightweight, at least for now, as he has moved back to welterweight, where he has enjoyed most of his career success.
Hathaway is a relative newcomer to the UFC having competed just three times inside the Octagon. He won his first three bouts, with the most recent coming by unanimous decision against Paul Taylor at UFC 105 in November.
