No regrets: Joseph Duffy content with decision to walk away

It’s -14c outside and the buzzing alarm on his wristwatch reads 5am but Joseph Duffy is as motivated and content as he’s ever been to rise and shine.

It’s been over two years now since the Burtonport man called time on his MMA career in the UFC. But while the vigour and energy he once brought to the octagon is still there, it’s now channelled in a much different direction.

The son of a tunneller, grafting is, he says, in the blood. Even before his UFC dream ended, Duffy was making solid provisions for life outside the cage. And while that came much sooner than he’d ever have anticipated, he says life is still good.

Now 34, he’s moved into construction. Roofing to be precise. Given the razor sharpness of Canadian winters, especially Quebec where it often drops below -30c, it mightn’t be that much of a reach to suggest that MMA was the easier way to make a living.

Joseph Duffy, sporting his Donegal GAA hat, hard at work. 

But Duffy jokes his martial arts skills are now only used to tiptoe out of the family home so as not to wake young daughters Niamh (1), Laura (4) and wife Rachel. 

“Yesterday was snowing so heavily but it’s not too bad today, cold but manageable,” he says. “Life’s good. Growing up, tunnelling was always the backup. Dad was tunnelling and my brothers were tunnelling.

“I never really panicked with the fighting. I didn’t have sleepless nights worrying about what might happen if it didn’t work out. I was never going to be stuck. To be honest, I always enjoyed work. There’s something really satisfying about going to work, having a productive day and coming home with that sense of accomplishment.

“The big difference between the two is when I come home from work now I have a clear and calm head. Training, or when I was in camp; if I had a bad session it had the potential to mess with your head. Dieting, cutting weight, it was such a mental drain as much as it was a physical one.”

In terms of the current product, he says he’s catches odd glimpses of it from time to time but admits he doesn’t go out of his way to look for it. Canteen or lunch truck talk with younger colleagues, who are big fans, fills in most of the gaps.

“I still train, I’ll lift weights here at home on a day off just so I’ll start the day productively. I’ve only been in the gym twice since I stopped fighting. I went in with a friend who was over just for some sparring.

“Some of the lads at work, they’re really into it. It’s huge out here, obviously. So as well as questions about my own time fighting, they’re always letting me know what’s happening.”

Duffy certainly doesn’t dwell on what might or could have been. He debuted in the UFC back in 2015 with plenty of hype behind him. Another Irishman, Conor McGregor, had just captured the lightweight title and was hugely influential in elevating the promotion’s profile to an unprecedented level.

Five years previously, Duffy needed just 38 seconds to submit ‘The Notorious’ in a Cage Warriors bout. So the prospect of their paths crossing once again, under the much brighter and profitable lights of the UFC, had fight fans very excited.

It’s easy to forget now just how much potential that rematch bout had, at that time, with the likes of Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium openly talked about as genuine options.

In just his third outing under the UFC umbrella, company face Dana White elevated Duffy to the main event position for UFC Dublin against Dustin Poirier.If Duffy could scale that considerable hurdle on home soil, then that outdoor stadium tilt at McGregor would surely become a reality.

Duffy in action during his MMA days.

However, just six days out from the much publicised event at the 3Arena, Duffy suffered a mild concussion in sparring. And as a result, the bout had to be scrapped.

Those stars that had previously looked so perfectly aligned also dropped out of place quickly as McGregor suffered his first loss in the company to Nate Diaz and Duffy, in his rescheduled clash with Poirier, was also defeated.

“It’s not something I look back on with any real regret,” he says on those ‘what ifs’. “I’ve too much going on at home and I’m not built like that anyways. From 13 on, the only aim ever was to get to a professional level in MMA. And I never doubted I’d make it.

“The goal was always to be world champion. Signing for the UFC, for many that was a huge deal. Friends and family… and I understood the excitement on their part. But the rare time I do maybe reflect, the one sickener for me is that I didn’t achieve that goal.

“Signing with the company, I only ever viewed that as the start of it, the first step. There was a serious desire to accomplish the end goal.”

Signing on the dotted line at the height of the so-called ‘Irish Invasion’ of MMA’s premier platform, Duffy was quick to garner attention in the UFC, showcasing his array of attributes while spectacularly winning his first two bouts inside the opening round.

In just his third outing with the company, Duffy used a spot on Ireland AM to announce that main event tangle with Poirier in Dublin. It’s hard not to wonder what might have been had he squared off against ‘The Diamond’ with that considerable home crowd advantage.

Instead, the rescheduled bout would take place the following year in Las Vegas with future champion Poirier eventually getting his arm raised via unanimous decision. Subsequent shoulder, rib and hand injuries would blight Duffy’s progress with long spells, including a frustrating 16-month period, spent outside the cage rehabbing those knocks.

And in 2020, following his third consecutive defeat, Duffy decided to bring the curtain down on his professional MMA career.

“The injuries didn’t help but for me, there really is something to be said about being active. And listen, somewhere along the way… I’d been with my first club in Wales since I started. There was something special about that attachment.

“That was my background all the way up through Cage Warriors. Living close to family and friends, I was around my motivation, if that makes sense? It’s one thing doing it for yourself but that was never my motivation. And I think I lost a little bit of that with the moves to London and Canada. The training went to another level, it was incredible. But something was lost along the way”.

With speculation increasing in regards to boxing superstar Katie Taylor’s homecoming event at Croke Park becoming a reality in 2023, it’s difficult not to wonder just how close Duffy came to getting that same spotlight with old foe McGregor back in 2015.

“The UFC went to a crazy level at the time and Ireland was at the heart of all that. The Poirier fight, the one that was supposed to happen in Dublin, that was the opportunity. A win there would have been a real turning point.

“It would have ranked me and the push would have been on for that really big fight. And the biggest one out there was a pretty obvious one. We’d a nice backstory, Conor and I. I think that could have happened at an outdoor stadium. Like I said, MMA in this country probably peaked at the time.

“The most disappointing thing for me was not getting the Dustin fight in Ireland. That was the springboard opportunity. It was something and nothing, the concussion thing I mean. It was such a shock when the UFC doctors didn’t clear me to fight. I felt fine on the flight over.

“There wasn’t a doubt in my mind the fight was happening. I’d an amazing ten-week camp behind me. I’d have had my country behind me in the 3Arena as well. I felt so good. It literally happened in the last exchange, in the last spar before the fight.

“Again, it’s something people ask me, was that my sliding doors moment? Who knows. The variables changed for that Dustin fight when it finally did happen. And listen, Dustin is amazing and he’s gone on and proved that. But like I said, I’d have loved to have had that opportunity in Dublin with that Irish and Donegal crowd behind me”.