Joseph Duffy is wrapping up his career.
Duffy, the man best known for defeating Conor McGregor before the two got to the UFC, has decided to retire. After dropping his third straight fight at UFC Fight Island 2 to Joel Alvarez, Duffy made an Instagram post announcing the move.
Thank you all so much for all your messages of support all week. 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
Duffy has lost three straight fights, but those were his only fights in well over three years. He entered the UFC in 2015 and won four of his first five fights. He calls it a career at only 32 years old, with a 16-5 MMA record, though he's 3-0 in kickboxing and 7-0 as a boxer.
"Irish" Joe appeared on The Ultimate Fighter Season 12 and was quickly defeated. However, just months later he submitted a young Conor McGregor at Cage Warriors 39 in what would be the biggest fight of his MMA career.
Fightful has full live, coverage of UFC Fight Island 2, which you can check out at this link.