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UFC lightweight Joseph Duffy called time on his MMA career on Fight Island.
At last night’s UFC Fight Island 2: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2 Joseph Duffy was handed his third loss in as many fights. On Yas Island, the 32-year-old Irishman was submitted by Joel Alvarez midway through the first round.
After the loss Duffy took to Instagram to let his fans know that this was probably the last time they would see him enter the Octagon.
“Thank you all so much for all your messages of support all week,” shared Duffy. “I have been blessed on this journey in MMA and am truly grateful for every experience. I felt great all through camp and even warming up, I believed I was back to my former self then when I went in there it just falls to pieces. I think it’s time to realize that I haven’t got what it takes any more. Congrats to Joel Alvarez and thank you to the UFC for all the opportunities. I’m sorry I didn’t achieve what I set out to achieve for my fans, family, friends and myself but it just wasn’t meant to be. I am officially retiring from MMA competition.”
After a sparkling career in the UK and Ireland regional circuits, which included a famous victory over future UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor, Duffy signed for the UFC in 2015.
Duffy did fight in a UFC Octagon prior to this, in the tryouts for The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Koscheck all the way back in 2010. However, he lost that bout to eventual semi-finalist Kyle Watson.
His official promotional debut came at UFC 185, where he finished Jake Lindey by TKO early in the first round. Duffy then submitted Ivan Jorge, setting up a bout with a young, but well seasoned, Dustin Poirier.
Poirier handed Duffy his first UFC loss (second career loss) via unanimous decision. Duffy was the betting favourite heading into this match-up, but in the fight Poirier was able to show glimpses of what he would later become; an interim UFC lightweight champion.
After that disappointment Duffy put together back-to-back wins over Mitch Clarke and Reza Madadi. Those would be the last victories of his UFC run. In November 2017 Duffy suffered the first TKO stoppage of his career, at the hands of James Vick. After this he lost to Marc Diakiese, by decision, at UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal.
If this is the end of Duffy’s career he walks away from the sport with a pro record of 16-5.