According to ESPN, heavyweight Todd Duffee has suffered an undisclosed injury that will force him out of this Saturday’s showdown with Nick Gaston at “Dream 17: Grand Prix Final.”
Duffee hasn’t been seen since posting a disappointing 19 second knockout loss to Alistair Overeem this past New Year’s Eve. The controversial 265-pounder served as a last-minute replacement against Ubereem in the interim title fight.
After blasting out of the MMA gates with a perfect 6-0 record, Duffee has lost his last two contests – both in KO fashion.
Duffee had the world in the palm of his hands after posting a seven second knockout of Tim Hague at UFC 102 in August 2009. However, the up-and-comer was released following his UFC 114 loss to Mike Russow due to his “poor attitude.”
ESPN confirmed Dream will not attempt to locate a replacement for Gaston and have removed him from the event.
Dream 17 takes place this Saturday inside the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan.
Here is the card’s revised roster:
Bantamweight Tournament:
Atsushi Yamamoto vs. Kenji Osawa (Third Place)
Masakazu Imanari vs. Hideo Tokoro (Finals)
Individual Bouts:
Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Bruno Carvalho
Tatsuya Mizuno vs. Trevor Prangley
Drew Fickett vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Hayato Sakurai vs. Marius Zaromskis (Dream Welterweight Champion)*
Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (Dream Featherweight Champion)
Hiroshi Izumi vs. Gegard Mousasi (Dream Light Heavyweight Champion)
* – Non-title fight
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