Todd Duffee was last seen in the octagon getting knocked out by Frank Mir at UFC Fight Night: Mir vs. Duffee in 2015. Duffee will be returning to the cage at UFC 209 against Mark Godbeer, but the Duffee you'll see just signed a new contract with the UFC, something he spoke to ESPN about.
"Business-wise, you're paying to play at that point," Duffee said. "I was making [$12,000 to show, $12,000 to win]. You've got to take time off work to focus on the task at hand, because you're going to fight another man in a cage. You're not going to take that lightly. You're not going to play with that. That could have long-term effects on your life. So you have to take time off work, and you're paying to play. The heavyweight division is a gamble, right? There's no question about it. You don't see heavyweights rattling off huge win streaks. If you come out [with a loss], you just took two or three months off work, and you might get paid $8,000. If you come out a winner, you might get $16,000. And what that takes away from your family, work, life -- it's a big undertaking. I didn't feel good about it."
One of the main reasons Duffee returned to the UFC is due to the promotion's relationship with USADA.
“And this might sound crazy, but USADA [United States Anti-Doping Agency, the UFC's anti-doping program partner] -- you don't have that anywhere else,” Duffee said. “This is a real league. Top to bottom, it's an organization that makes things easy. They took great care of me after my fight with Mir."
UFC 209 takes place on Saturday, February 11 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York with Holly Holm and Germaine De Randamie headlining.
