Duthie has been training in martial arts for about six years and, in preparation for his first amateur MMA fight, has been putting in lots of extra hours at the gym and also running.
Acknowledging his opponent has a brown belt in jiu-jitsu, Duthie said his game plan is to focus on striking.
“I’ll do my best to keep it standing,” he said, adding he won’t rush anything.
“Take it slow for a few seconds just to see what he’s like.”
In the welterweight division (170 lbs), Kolten Renz will compete against Lethbridge’s Noah Bodie. Renz said he’s both excited and nervous.
“It’s a mix of both for sure. I mean, you train for two and a half months for this, so it’s a lot of excitement, but you know there’s also nerves like anything else, so I’m just working through both of them.”
The fight will also Bodie’s first competition, but Renz knows his opponent likes to strike and also has a jiu-jitsu background, so he said he’s prepared for anything.
“Obviously he’s probably training just as hard too, so I’m just gonna go in there and bang it out and see what happens,” he said.
Rumble in the Cage 71 takes place Saturday night at the Servus Sports Centre in Lethbridge and there are 17 scheduled matches on the card.
Also from Saskatchewan are North Battleford’s Uthman Amusat and Lloydminster’s Dylan Schellenberg and Ryker Bangun.
The main event will pit Grande Prairie’s Justin Knoepfli against Lethbridge’s Ben Fehr.
The event can be purchased to watch and streamed by way of this link.
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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com
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