Former Cage Warriors stand out Joseph Duffy has signed with the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion, the UFC and is expected to make his debut in 2015. Irish media outlet TheScore.ie first reported the news today.
Duffy who went professional in 2008, picked up ten wins on the bounce with perhaps his biggest wins coming over Norman Parke and Conor McGregor. At Cage Warriors 44, Duffy showed his first sign of weakness when he suffered a loss to Ivan Musardo. Following the loss to Musardo in October 2011, Duffy stepped away from MMA to take up professional boxing.
The break from MMA came to an end in August 2014 and Duffy re-signed with Cage Warriors. He quickly reminded people of just how dangerous he is in the cage when he took out Damien Lapilus by submission at Cage Warriors 70. His second bout for Cage Warriors since his return saw him take on tough Frenchman Julien Boussuge. That fight also went Duffy’s way and ended in spectacular fashion with a knee that sent Boussuge to sleep. You can check out that fight in the video below.
Although Duffy will make his UFC debut in 2015, the Irishman is not entirely alien to the promotion as he was selected for The Ultimate Fighter 12. Unfortunately that didn’t pan out well for Duffy and he was submitted by Kyle Watson in the elimination round.
Tony’s Thoughts:
Its a huge deal for Duffy and really deserved in my opinion. Duffy has proved that after his layoff the spark is still there and he is not just here to make up the numbers. I just hope that the UFC do not pair him off against McGregor given that he is the only man to stop McGregor. Duffy is a very humble guy and doesn’t get phased very easily so will be interesting to see how he deals with the big stage.