...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Following a near two year layoff due to a rare medical condition, Todd Duffee is returning to the cage this December at UFC 181.
According to a report from ESPN.com, citing confirmation from UFC officials, Duffee returns in a fight against Anthony Hamilton.
The 28-year-old hasn't fought since a win in his UFC return in December of 2012, where he stopped Philip De Fries in two minutes at UFC 155. He began experiencing some pain and numbness issues early on in 2013, and was diagnosed with Parsonage-Turner syndrome, a rare affliction of the brachial plexus, which is the series of nerves connecting through the shoulders, arms, and chest.
At the time, he was told it would be a two year recovery, but he's been able to return to training earlier than that, and his return will come nearly a month shy of two years from his last fight.
As for Hamilton, he's now 1-1 in the UFC after defeating Ruan Potts at UFC 177 last month. That bounced him back from a loss to Oleksiy Oliynyk in June.
Penick's Analysis: The UFC gave him the level of fight that all but guarantees a successful return. Duffee's suffered his own losses throughout his career, but he's bigger, stronger, and faster than Hamilton, with a lot more power, and it's likely he scores the finish in his return. Regardless, it's great that he's getting a chance to continue his career after being sidelined for so long with a painful and out-of-nowhere condition.
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.