Joseph Duffy was signed to the UFC in January 2015, and came with a tag as the last man to beat fellow Irishman Conor McGregor.
The softly-spoken but direct Donegal who fights out of the Tristar Gym in Montreal, Canada may be headed for his last fight with the world’s premier MMA promotion.
Duffy is 3-1 UFC, which is not a bad record by anyone’s standards. The 28 year old faces off against Reza Madadi who is 3-2 UFC in London on March 18 at UFC Fight Night 107.
While many expected to see McGregor avenge what was his last defeat prior to Nate Diaz’s submission victory over the Dubliner, a breakdown in negotiations last summer means that Duffy could leave the UFC as a free agent following the bout in the English capital.
Although a new deal was offered, it was received as unsatisfactory. Duffy has not made the same waves that “The Notorious” has, yet has no desire to market himself in the way that the brash lightweight champion of the world has been so successful in doing (courtesy of MMA Junkie):
“Since I started working with the UFC, I’ve met some amazing people and when you turn up a show and meet up with all the staff – in Europe or the States – it’s always a pleasure,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed being a UFC fighter and I’m leaving all doors open. If we can come to a deal, I’d gladly stay with them.
“But they seem to be looking for people who are talkers instead of guys who can put on good performances. With the social media and all the stuff, it just seems to be becoming more important than the fighting itself. That’s not who I am. I’m not going to sell out who I am just to make a quick buck. Down the line, I want to be able to show my kids and grandchildren the fights, and that I stuck to my guns and was who I was and did it my own way.”
Despite this, Duffy is keen to remain with the UFC providing a deal is offered which makes sense to him in the long term. While money is not the motivating factor, the Irishman does feel that fighters do need to stand up and make a change:
“Anyone who is in this sport are aspiring to be in UFC,” Duffy said. “For a time, it was the only organization that held any prestige. Fighters didn’t care about how much money they were making because that’s where you had to be to go to the top of your sport. Because there wasn’t too much money at the start, for us, it was enough just to be the best in your field.
“When you look around and see other fighters starting to make a stand, it makes a big difference. I’ve seen the way other fighters have been treated, and there’s been a bit of a change.”
Duffy tasted his first defeat in the UFC to Dustin Poirier, and feels that this could have contributed to their “unsatisfactory” offer:
“For them, it was probably just a business. They were looking at Dustin for the third fight and then maybe me and Conor again in the future,” he said. “I would presume that was what was in their head, and then after the loss to Dustin, maybe they pulled back a bit and might have had second thoughts. It’s hard to guess what they were thinking. But for me, every time I go in there, I try to put on an exciting fight. That’s what they ask of us and that’s what I try to bring to the table.
“I think I was possibly too laid back, trusted my boxing too much and in the back of my head was probably thinking that, at some point, I’d catch him. That’s the only thing I could honestly say. But for sure, I wasn’t taking him for granted because, if anything, it was probably the biggest fight of my life.”
Duffy’s next fight in London on March 18 at UFC Fight Night 107 will undoubtedly provide him with an opportunity to show the UFC why he should be offered a new deal. This fight could be make or break for the lightweight.
