It looks like more than one former Conor McGregor foe wants to get back into the cage with “The Notorious”. “Irish” Joe Duffy would also like to prove that he can beat McGregor, years after handing the former UFC “Champ Champ” his second-ever loss in mixed martial arts (MMA). McGregor and Duffy currently fight under the UFC’s promotional banner, with McGregor serving as the sport’s biggest star at the moment.
Duffy is coming off a TKO defeat to James Vick in November of 2017. After taking over a year to recover, he is gearing up to make his return against Marc Diakiese in London, but has a long way to go before facing the likes of McGregor. If the opportunity ever arose, however, Duffy tells Eurobash he believes he and McGregor’s rematch sells out an Irish football stadium “no bother” (via MMA Fighting):
“There’s always going to be people throwing my name out there [because of our first fight]. For me, it’s just that far in the past…the option is always open. If that happened, I would love it. Croke Park, it’s a dream for anyone; it’s like a Dublin vs. Donegal match for me.
“It would be a huge fight and I’m pretty sure we would sell out Croke Park no bother, but it’s not something I’m pursuing, I just want to do this my way and I suppose I’ve got to take one fight at a time. If that opportunity presents itself, of course I’d love to have that fight again.
“Look what [McGregor] has gone on to do and obviously I would love to prove that I could beat him again. I’m not going looking for [a rematch]; I’m just focusing on my own thing. I’m not going to be calling him out and all this craic, it’s just not me.”
The pair first met back in 2010 under the Cage Warriors banner. Duffy submitted McGregor in 38 seconds via arm-triangle choke. It remained McGregor’s last defeat until finally being stopped by Nate Diaz via submission six years later. If Duffy is able to build a nice win streak for himself against some elite competition at 155 pounds, a rematch between he and McGregor certainly has a big selling point.
Do you think a McGregor vs. Duffy match-up would sell out Croke Park?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkjwIZhT5hg
