Tag: UFC 185

UFC 185 comes to you live on pay-per-view this Saturday and features two championship bouts. In the main event, the lightweight title will be on the online, and in the co-main event, the women’s strawweight title will be contested.

In that co-main event are two of the best women in the world. The champion is Carla Esparza, the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 20 and inaugural strawweight champion, while the challenger is Joanna Jedrzejcyk, a Polish fighter who has jumped up the rankings in recent times with her awesome performances.

It’s surely a much-anticipated bout and the first title defense of the newly minted championship. It should be a great bout.

Without further ado, let’s examine this matchup, comparing these women from head to toe.

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An influx of Irish fighters, anchored by brazen featherweight top contender Conor McGregor, have infiltrated multiple UFC weight classes. 

Cathal Pendred, Norman Parke and Patrick Holohan are the main culprits. McGregor leads the charge, capturing the attention of the mixed martial arts masses with his volatile sense of humor and sleek sense of style. One man, the only fighter to defeat “Notorious” professionally, looks to become the new poster boy for the UFC’s expansion into Ireland. 

Joseph Duffy makes a trip across the pond to take on the struggling Jake Lindsey in his lightweight Octagon debut at UFC 185 this weekend. Duffy recently turned 27 years old and has only one loss to his credit.

Irish Joe takes to the Octagon with a boatload of hype surrounding his debut and rightfully so. After all, he is the last fighter to defeat the untouchable McGregor. 

The last time Duffy fought was in November, in the famed English Cage Warriors Fighting Championship. In one of the fastest outings of his MMA career, he took out Julien Boussuge in 36 seconds with a blistering knee. 

The maneuver was textbook, and Duffy couldn’t have timed it better. As his French opponent appeared to be ducking a punch, Duffy delivered the knee to Boussuge’s face without breaking a sweat. 

It’s that kind of technical striking prowess that’s going to draw a lot of comparisons to the Notorious one. Both were outstanding amateur boxers and came up through the CWFC ranks.

“Conor can hit; he always could,” Duffy told MMA Fighting’s Dave Doyle in August.

Before the UFC signed Duffy, the Irishman forged a prosperous career in Europe, picking off foes one by one. The Donegal, Republic of Ireland, native won his first nine bouts in the first round, with seven finishes coming by way of the choke.

One of them, a rear-naked choke, was against Parke in March 2010. Then came one of his toughest tests to date.

McGregor had already begun making a name for himself overseas with his superb striking, but a weakness started to emerge. A weakness that Duffy was ready to capitalize on.  

When Duffy and McGregor met in November 2010, the latter had already one career loss via kneebar. 

“He cracked me good in our first exchange,” said Duffy. “I had never been cut like that before, and I knew I had to make something happen. Next thing I knew it was all over.”

Duffy didn’t acquire the hefty hands he uses so well today until an injury occurred to one of his hands. He suffered a nasty break in his first career loss against Swiss submission machine Ivan Musardo. It was then that he took a hiatus from MMA and chartered a course toward a different combat sport.

“One of my trainers in London basically sat me down and said, with my hand speed, I should give boxing a try, that I might go even farther in boxing than I did in MMA,” said Duffy. “I decided to see where it would take me.”

He went on to an undefeated 7-0 amateur boxing career. After nearly three years away from MMA, Duffy came crawling back to the sport that he always loved above any other. 

“I enjoy boxing, but mixed martial arts has always been my true love and my passion,” said Duffy. 

It wasn’t the homecoming he was necessarily hoping for. In his return to CWFC, Duffy was taken into deeper waters by the durable Damien Lapilus. Lapilus proved to be a game opponent, having endured several hard shots throughout their tussle.

However, Lapilus allowing a late takedown attempt was the last and only mistake he’d make. The French fighter was seen tapping to a rear-naked choke just seconds later in the final frame. Duffy would tally back-to-back wins three months later after dispatching of Boussuge. 

With a stable of highly decorated fighters populating the win column on his resume, he is now set to prove his worth on American soil against Lindsey. “The Librarian” has fallen on hard times as of late, dropping two straight losses to Jon Tuck and Olivier Aubin-Mercier.

Lindsey has had no answer for the ground games of his opponents. Over his last two bouts, Mercier and Tuck have combined to make 13 guard passes on the Kansas native.

The 28-year-old Lindsey has shown astute knowledge of several MMA disciplines throughout his five-plus-year run in the sport. He’ll likely need all of it if he has any plans of defeating the highly touted Duffy. 

The Irish fighter has a lot to live up to. His accolades in his native land have elevated his stock exponentially as UFC brass and fans await his arrival. 

Duffy has all the power square in his hands to quiet the hype around McGregor and place it solely on himself. Debuts are no easy task and have become mental burdens just as they’re physical. 

Judging by the way he has handled adversity in the past, something tells me that Duffy is on the cusp of something great.

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