Conor McGregor has got the world at his feet after conquering the UFC featherweight division.
The Irishman is breaking every record in the promotion after toppling former champion and pound-for-pound king Jose Aldo, who had gone unbeaten in a decade.
Now the 27-year-old is aiming for even more dizzying heights in 2016 as he looks to become a two-weight world champion again with a mouth-watering match-up against lightweight champ Rafael Dos Anjos looking ever more likely.
But with potential big money fights with the likes of Frankie Edgar, Nate Diaz and Jose Aldo (again) stacking up, there’s still one man that McGregor doesn’t want to fight, according to the promoter of Cage Warriors where McGregor reigned as a two-weight world champ.
Graham Boylan, who also happens to manage Duffy, says the UFC’s new golden boy is doing anything he can to avoid a rematch with the Donegal native. Duffy beat McGregor by submission in just 38 seconds back in his Cage Warriors days, in 2010.
“The people within the industry who truly know, know that the rematch is a fight that Conor does not want. He wants nothing to do with that,” Boylan told Sky Sports before Duffy’s loss to Dustin Poirier.
“Everybody knows Joseph beats Conor in every way. Conor will hold out for as long as he possibly can before doing a rematch. Joseph made him look really silly, very quickly.
“There’s one guy in the UFC who’s got Conor’s number and that’s Joseph.”
It’s a shame then that Duffy didn’t put Poirier to the sword and make a step closer to the number 1 contender spot in the division.
But can McGregor keep avoiding this potentially huge money-making rematch with the last man to beat him?
One suspects it may happen eventually but, for it to get the green light, Duffy needs to get back in the winning habit, and soon.
