Joseph Duffy (born 18 February 1988) is an Irish retired mixed martial artist who competed in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
His family emigrated when he was young to the industrial town of Ebbw Vale in Wales, from where they travelled back and forth to Burtonport regularly.
He claimed "if Ireland lost in the rugby, I would try to skip the next day at school, just to avoid the hassle it would bring".
He started with taekwon-do before progressing to traditional jiu-jitsu, a foundation that eventually led him to a career in professional MMA.
Duffy cited "the opportunity to work with one of the best coaches in the boxing world" as the main reason for his switch, and the chance "to spar with some of the best fighters in the world; James DeGale, Andy Lee, George Groves, Chris Eubank, Jr.", something he deemed "priceless".
[citation needed] In February 2010, Duffy was announced as a cast member of The Ultimate Fighter 12 where he competed as a lightweight.
[8] In his first fight, Duffy lost to Kyle Watson via rear-naked choke in the first round, and was subsequently eliminated from the show.
In his first bout with the promotion, Duffy submitted Conor McGregor, another Irish fighter who went on to UFC stardom.
This time detecting his opponent's intention for a takedown, and connecting a clean knee to the head when Boussuge changed levels.
[15] However, Rocha pulled out of the bout in early February citing injury and was replaced by Jake Lindsey.
[16] Duffy won the fight via TKO in the first round after wobbling his opponent with a head kick and then dropping Lindsey with a body shot, forcing the stoppage.
[20] Duffy was expected to face Dustin Poirier on 24 October 2015 at UFC Fight Night 76.
[32] However, Pearson announced on 7 November that he was out of the bout due to a broken nose and subsequent surgery to correct the injury.