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By Matt Erickson
cagedin.mma@gmail.com

Heavyweights Mike Russow and Todd Duffee will meet at UFC 114 in Las Vegas, Caged In learned on Tuesday.

The UFC newcomers, both 1-0 in the promotion after wins on the same UFC 102 card in Portland in August, have verbally agreed to the bout, though agreements have not yet been signed. The news comes from a source close to Russow’s camp.

Mike Russow (Photo courtesy of UFC)

Russow, a Chicago police officer by day, holds a 12-1 career record with one no contest. While he has mostly toiled for Midwest promotions like Adrenaline MMA and XFO, his lone loss came to Sergei Kharitonov at Pride 33. His UFC debut was a decision victory against Justin McCully. Going to the judges was an uncommon concept for Russow in that fight, as eight of his previous nine wins had come by submission.

But where Russow’s strengths lie in his jiu-jitsu game, Duffee, born in Evansville, Ind., and raised in southern Illinois, brings knockout power to the table. His debut at UFC 102 was a UFC record 7-second knockout of Tim Hague. Duffee, 5-0, has all his wins by knockout and has only gone out of the first round once in his five career fights. Duffee trains with the Xtreme Couture team in Las Vegas.

UFC 114 is scheduled for the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on May 29 and will coincide with the promotion’s second UFC Fan Expo leading up to it. While not yet announced, the expected main event for the pay-per-view card is the long-awaited grudge match between former light heavyweight champions and Season 10 coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter” Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson.