Duffy doesn’t care that he was last fighter to beat McGregor
Someone forgot to tell Joe Duffy the part about there’s no sense in being Irish unless you know the world’s going to break your heart. He doesn’t seem all that taken with the doom and gloom and abiding sense of tragedy that history has permanently attached his nation’s heritage.
He’s not one to accept second place, is all.
Ireland loves its fighters, and in Duffy it has yet another mixed martial artist who has delivered to its shores grand exposure for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
You know, besides the other guy.
The brash and outspoken and famous and incredibly talented one.
Conor McGregor is the face of the UFC in this perfect-no-more world of Ronda Rousey, and you have to travel back five years to discover the last time he wasn’t the one whose arm was raised at fight’s end.
It was Duffy who won that night in 38 seconds, who with an arm-triangle choke in Cork City as part of a Cage Warriors promotion submitted the man who now is the featherweight champion and unbeaten in seven UFC bouts.
Duffy doesn’t promote the fact he is the last man to beat McGregor to near the level others inquire about it, understanding five years removed from any fight might as well be a lifetime. He’s too busy looking forward.
The next step in what Duffy dreams of yet another Irish fighter one day being fit with a championship belt comes tonight, when the 27-year-old rising star from Donegal encounters Dustin Poirier in a lightweight bout on Fight Pass of UFC 195 at the MGM Grand Garden.
“Of course, I understand the interest in my fight with Conor, but it’s not important to me,” Duffy said. “I’m out here. I’m doing my thing. I’m my own man. I only care about winning (tonight) and getting all the way to that belt.
“It’s great what Conor has done. Every country wants a champion, and it’s great for MMA in Ireland that because of him, people who might not normally follow the sport now do. It’s huge there. Ireland supports its own and follows them to the end. The whole of Ireland knows about MMA now, and loves it.”
Donegal sits at the mouth of the River Eske and Donegal Bay, and is a hub for music and poetic and cultural gatherings. There might be 2,500 folks living there at any one time and, despite what stereotypes you may or may not believe, all aren’t at the pub at once. It’s also a town within the county where Christ apparently showed Saint Patrick a cave that was an entrance to Purgatory, which I suppose is a big enough threat for locals not to get too belligerent and drunk on a certain day each March.
It’s a peaceful sort of place, which might explain Duffy’s calm approach to most things outside an octagon. Inside it, he has won both of his UFC fights via first-round stoppages. In fact, just three of his 15 professional MMA fights — Duffy is 14-1 — have reached the second round.
But winning tonight probably would propel Duffy into the top 15 lightweight rankings and continue him along a path many believe could one day lead to another fight against McGregor, this time at 155 pounds if the latter does as expected and moves up in class. It’s a long way from now until then, and yet maybe not.
“I’m not chasing that fight, and I’m not chasing Conor,” Duffy said. “I don’t need to. I have a win over Conor. If he’s one day fighting for or has won the (lightweight) title, of course I’d want that fight. I don’t need to chase it. I’ll do well enough on my own.
“I’m not worried about anything. Pressure is something you build up in your head. I also have Ireland behind me, and the people there support you, but not out of pressure or expectations. I’m living the dream. I’m fighting in the UFC against the top guys in the world. I’m doing what I dreamed about since I was a kid. Why not enjoy it?”
There is an Irish folk ballad called “The Fields of Athenry,” about a fictional man in the mid-1800s sentenced to an Australian penal colony for stealing food for his starving family. It’s a widely popular anthem for Irish sports fans and can be heard at events no matter how much a certain team or individual from Ireland might be winning or losing.
Duffy talks about such devotion and what it means to feel and hear it. He’s a huge fan of former Irish rugby star Brian O’Driscoll and wants more than anything else to emulate how one of his country’s greatest sportsmen carried himself during his career.
He wants to remain true to himself, refusing to engage in the sort of banter McGregor and others aim his direction.
That can be a challenge in the fight game.
“If I spent my life worrying about what people think of me, I’d never come out of the house,” Duffy said. “People have opinions. Let them. You can’t take things so seriously. Just have thick skin and do your thing. I have grown so much as a fighter. My striking and overall game is so good, I wonder how many of the guys can compete with me.”
He might be Irish, but he sure never learned that part about expecting or accepting second-best.
— Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Twitter: @edgraney.
