When Christian Leroy Duncan steps into the UFC Octagon on Saturday night, he will become the 37^th former Cage Warriors champion to do so. Five of those have gone on to compete for a title and two – Conor McGregor and Michael Bisping – successfully claimed a UFC championship

12 of Duncan’s fellow Cage Warriors alumni are currently active fighters on the UFC roster with a number of them featuring at UFC 286 including Jai Herbert, Jack Shore and Jake Hadley and Duncan may be the most exciting prospect of them all.

On a night where two of the most exciting strikers on the planet, Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev go to war, it could be Leroy Duncan who creates the most viral moment of the entire PPV.

Entering the Champions League of mixed martial arts with a 7-0 professional record, CLD has a breathtaking arsenal of strikes at his disposal that he will look to unleash at the 02 Arena to announce himself on the world stage.

Tornado kicks, spinning attacks and flying knees – you name it, Christian Leroy Duncan has it in his locker. He’s an endgame hero with the full moveset unlocked and every attacking statistic maxed out.

His career up to this point is almost perfect and reads like the screenplay for a Jean-Claude Van Damme blockbuster. Duncan’s hitlist reads as such;

Kyle McClurkin – R2 TKO (Punches)

Lucas Marcinkowski – R1 TKO (Spinning Heel Kick and Punches)

Will Currie – R2 TKO (Punches)

Will Currie – Decision (Unanimous)

Justin Moore – R1 Submission (Rear Naked Choke)

(C) Djati Melen – R3 TKO (Flying Knee and Punches)

Marian Dimitrov – R1 TKO (Spinning Back Elbow and Punches)

Those opponents weren’t carefully curated lay-ups for CLD to volley into the front row and gain some misguided buzz from either.

Justin Moore was a former Bellator competitor that was bullied into submission by Duncan, Djati was the reigning Cage Warriors Middleweight Champion and Marian Dimtrov was on a 10-fight winning streak before being dispatched by the 27-year-old in his single title defence.

What makes Duncan, who is coached by UK MMA legend Mark Weir at Range Martial Arts Academy in Gloucester, such an irresistible force besides his array of attacks is the fluidity of those attacks and his temperament within the cage.

He’s incredibly flashy but there are times when it feels like CLD is the only person in the room who doesn’t know that. Unlike other uniquely talented strikers, Duncan doesn’t stand around admiring his work or feinting for feinting sake. When the former Cage Warriors champion smells blood, he zeroes in and decimates his opponent.

The only “blemish” on his otherwise glittering array of stoppages is the decision victory, the only time Duncan has gone to the judges, against rival Will Currie.

Best known to the masses as Modestas Bukauskas’s gobby cornerman from UFC 284 in Perth, Currie is an accomplished grappler that pushed Duncan all the way in their rematch after some brief controversy over the stoppage of their initial fight.

Currie, who will be competing for the now vacant CW Middleweight belt next weekend, occupied a strange position in the promotion as a clear cut #2 in the division but unable to dislodge Duncan in a strange mirroring of the UFC middleweight division between Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya – until Alex Pereira showed up.

It was those back-to-back bouts against Currie that showed CLD’s prospective opponents the path to victory when facing the man from Gloucester. He can be taken down and held there but nobody has managed to do it for long enough to hand Duncan a loss as a professional yet.

Some of that is down to his athletic make up. With being such an explosive striker comes a pair of hips that can power through take down attempts and burst out from holds.

There’s also a sneaky, extensive amateur career that handed Duncan experience against some of the best grapplers in the world at the IMMAF level.

He boasts appearances at multiple IMMAF World Championships and the runner-up spot at the IMMAF European Senior Open Championships amongst 22 amateur outings. It takes world-class grapplers to blanket the fire of Christian Leroy Duncan.

His ability and overall experience is reflected in the opponent the UFC has matched Duncan against for his debut fight on Saturday. Plenty of debuting UFC fighters have been given easier matchups, especially in front of a home crowd, than Duncan has with Dusko Todorovic.

A true mixed martial artists with a past in taekwondo, wrestling and grappling before fully immersing himself in MMA training, Todorovic is 3-3 in the UFC after winning a contract as part of Dana White’s Contender Series.

Possessing a well-rounded skillset and experience at a much higher level professionally than Duncan has faced, having shared the Octagon with the likes of Gregory Rodrigues and Chidi Njoukani, Todorovic is coming to London to spoil the party.

He’s also got a knack for derailing unorthodox strikers after knocking out Michel Pereira at Serbian Battle Championships 19 in 2018, the only person to do so to the flamboyant Brazilian.

However Todorovic does hold his hands low and away from his chin, a holdover from his taekwondo days, which makes him the perfect target for a disciplined yet devastating fighter like Duncan.

While the night will be capped by a nailed-on Fight of the Year contender between Fiziev and Gaethje and the Edwards/Usman trilogy, this could be an evening where a star is born and those in attendance get to experience an “I was there” moment.

Christian Leroy Duncan is about to announce himself on the world stage. Remember the name.

Photo Credits: Cage Warriors, Dolly Crew