LAS VEGAS – Chris Duncan was in redemption mode heading into his second appearance at Dana White’s Contender Series.
But early on in his main event against Charlie Campbell on Tuesday, he was in survival mode. Duncan (9-1) was having some issues with Campbell (6-2), to put it mildly. Campbell was highly touted and a 2-1 betting favorite.
But Duncan worked through an eye poke that he said helped Campbell land some heavy uppercuts and knees to put him on the canvas, and when it looked like Campbell was close to putting him away, Duncan landed a crisp right to the jaw.
A couple seconds later, their lightweight main event at DWCS 48 was over and Duncan had one of five UFC contracts handed out after the event.
“I made a bit of a mess of it, but it’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish,” Duncan said at his post-fight news conference at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “He was rushing in. I watched some footage of him a while ago, and when he starts to get his groove, he starts (weaving and bobbing) with his hands. I saw him doing that, and I just got my head off the center line and just threw my cannon and threw it right to his chops.
“I bounced his head off the canvas. Putting someone down like that is never nice, but that’s what I’m going for, and I knew that’s what was going to secure me my contract.”
Duncan, from Scotland, was set for a DWCS fight in September 2021. But after he made weight for the fight, Manuel Gaxhja was pulled after a bad weight cut. Duncan said he thought he was going to get a quick trip to the UFC without having to win on DWCS as a replacement opponent, but learned the commission likely wouldn’t sign off on the matchup.
Instead, he got put into another DWCS fight a couple weeks later against Viacheslav Borschev – and got knocked out early in the second round.
“That was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Duncan said. “When I used to go into fights, I used to go into ‘Kill, kill, kill’ mode. I used to put the blinkers on and go forward and try to knock him out. And that’s not the way you go, especially in MMA, because there are so many ways to win or lose – and I paid for it. I got left-hooked and knocked out.
“I had to go back and I had to think about my mindset and how I gear up for a fight. I was gearing up the same way as when I fought last time in London on a local show, and I was feeling good.”
Now Duncan likely really is feeling good with as a full-fledged member of the UFC. Going into Tuesday’s matchup with Campbell, he had seen of his eight wins by stoppage, including six knockouts. His February win in London was the first time he needed the judges to get his hand raised.
But with the comeback KO of Campbell, Duncan thinks White and the the lightweight division got a glimpse of what he brings to the table.
“Now the UFC’s got a problem to worry about,” he said. “”They gave me the nickname ‘The Problem’ for a reason. I’m just here to work my way up the ladder and get better, go and learn, and enjoy being a full-time MMA athlete for the UFC.”
