What a wonderful time it is to be an Irish MMA fan.
When asked how distracting it was being labelled as ‘the last man to beat Conor McGregor’ at the UFC Glasgow post-fight press conference, a bashful smile washed over Joseph Duffy’s face.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t really concentrate too much on that. I just go out and do my own thing. I know in time I’m going to keep putting in performances and people will take note.”
After scoring his second straight first round finish on MMA’s biggest stage, the Duffy train is starting to gather serious momentum.
That spectacular triangle choke that forced the tap from BJJ black belt Ivan Jorge marked the Donegal native’s 13th finish and ninth submission win in his career. His sheer reluctance to go the distance and the versatility of his overall game makes him one of the most exciting prospects at 155 lbs.
In an age where self-promotion and storylines outside the cage have become so intrinsic to the modern fight business, Duffy is a throwback to the a bygone era where the sport was solely about fighting.
This attitude of letting his performances inside the cage speak for themselves, something he shares with his Tristar teammate Rory MacDonald, should see him pick up a lot of fans that don’t buy into McGregor’s schtick.
Although his humble persona may be the perfect antithesis to McGregor’s showmanship, his career trajectory is shaping up a lot like that of the Notorious.
When the UFC made its long overdue return to Irish soil last July, McGregor was selected to provide the main event after just two fights in the big leagues. After notching up a couple of impressive victories of his own, there are now rumblings of Duffy securing a headline or co-headline slot at the Dublin event in October.
“That’s what we’re in the game for. We’re here to fight the top guys in the world. So, whoever they put in front of me next, I can’t wait to be there and I’ll be glad to be on that Dublin card, whoever it is.”
“That’s a dream come true. If I’m headlining Dublin, that’s the kind of fights I want to be in.”
With the Notorious locked up with a unification bout against Jose Aldo in the States, the UFC may have found the ideal man in Duffy to fill the huge shoes he left behind at that magical night at Fight Night 46.
Despite Duffy and McGregor being polar opposites in how they promote themselves, they share a common ground in their supreme abilities as mixed martial artists. They are undoubtedly our nation’s two brightest UFC stars at the moment and are deserving of our support.
Purists will not use Duffy’s success to turn McGregor into a heel and spark some sort of combat sports civil war between the ‘McGregorites’ and the Duffy supporters. They’ll appreciate these warriors for what they are, two gifted athletes on the rise, flying the Irish flag on the world stage.
That is something to be celebrated.
