Duffy confident he’d beat Conor again in rematch
Joseph Duffy: I would address the fight the same way I would any other. I would go in expecting the five rounds and I believe I can finish anyone.
Joseph Duffy fought and beat Conor McGregor back in 2010. Duffy says he’s now the complete package and would beat McGregor again if they had a rematch.
Nov. 27 marked the five-year anniversary of Duffy’s (14-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) 2010 victory over McGregor (18-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC), which took place at Cage Warriors 39. Irish Joe needed less than a minute to put the fight on the ground and lock in a fight-ending arm-triangle choke. It remains McGregor’s lone defeat of that past seven years.
Although Duffy has had eight MMA fights (and seven boxing matches) since he crossed paths with McGregor, he said he has fond memories of the fight. It wasn’t by any means a long bout, but Duffy said he remembers the performance as one that propelled him from average fighter to elite.
I can still remember that fight quite clearly; it was my first fight back after the loss on ‘(The Ultimate Fighter 12),’ Duffy told MMAjunkie. It was a big fight for me. It was a big fight to get back into the swing of things, and it was my first fight on a show of that scale also. I remember the fight clearly, and I felt that was the start of me moving on to the next level. After ‘TUF’ I felt like I broke a few barriers, a few hurdles, that was hindering my game, and that was the start of me breaking all that down.
Duffy and McGregor have both experienced a lot in the five years since they first met. Duffy took a nearly three-year hiatus from MMA to try pro boxing before returning to the sport in August 2014. He’s 4-0 since his comeback, including two first-round stoppage victories under the UFC banner.