When Joseph Duffy arrived in the UFC, he was the last man to have beaten fellow Irishman and MMA superstar, Conor McGregor
A fight between both men was almost certain to happen until Duffy lost to Dustin Poirier and failed to light up his division.
MMA analyst and former UFC welterweight Dan Hardy believes that there is still hope for Duffy:
“I don’t think he hit the UFC as he expected. With that win over Conor McGregor, it kind of set him up as the golden boy to rise to the top and be there ready to challenge McGregor again,” Hardy told BT Sport.
“Unfortunately it just didn’t work out for him. It’s a shame because I don’t feel like his UFC record so far has really shown how capable he is. He’s an excellent boxer, he’s got good kicking ability. We know his ground game is dangerous, particularly off his back. He just needs to gather some momentum.”
Having won his last two bouts, Duffy can get himself into reckoning for a shot at the title by building up momentum. If McGregor still reigns by then, an all-Irish grudge match will be a great possibility:
“Walking out in Madison Square Garden with all those Irish fans there chanting and cheering, I think he’s going to realise why he’s doing this and fall in love with it again.
I hope that translates into his performance. If it does, I think he’s going to go on a good run.
“With these divisions that are so tightly contested, lightweight and welterweight in particular, I think it really only takes two or three good wins in a row to get him into a title conversation.”
