On the last fight of his UFC contract, Irish Joe Duffy put in a performance that will surely see the organisation step up their efforts to hold onto him as he looked superb en route to a unanimous decision win over Reza Madadi.
Duffy won on all three judges rounds but it was the manner of his victory that was most pleasing as he put on a clinic in terms of shot selection and timing, and even showed off the ground-and-pound that he had been bigging up in the lead up to this fight.
In the first round we saw a beautiful reversal as Madadi looked to make things uncomfortable early on:
Big slam by @RezaMaddog, but @Duffy_MMA w/ the beautiful reversal! #UFCLondon on @UFCFightPass ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/86giDiU5Qw
— UFC (@ufc) March 18, 2017
From here Duffy would land a massive elbow that cut Madadi right on the forehead and made it difficult for him to see going forward.
Duffy soon showed off his hands and tagged Madadi on several occasions as he mixed up his rhythm to keep his opponent guessing.
Irish @Duffy_MMA is throwing ? and @RezaMaddog is loving it!! #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/aCELDVElFR
— #UFCLondon (@UFCEurope) March 18, 2017
There was a lot of respect between the two fighters as the fight ended, but it was clear to see the damaged that the Irishman caused to Madadi as he left the octagon.
Durable Madidi battered and limping leaving the octagon after loss to Duffy #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/s888r7lrEI
— Coral Barry (@Coral__Barry) March 18, 2017
The big question now is what lies ahead for Duffy, as with his UFC contract up it seems from his recent interviews that he does not hold too much hope for a satisfactory deal being offered to him, but Bellator will no doubt be more than happy to make him the face of their continued expansion in these areas.
Dan Hardy on the commentary even went as far as to say that his hands were so impressive that it made him want to see a rematch with Conor McGregor before giving a recap of his handiwork:
Those who watched the event live were left in no doubt as to whether or not he deserves to be kept on by the UFC:
Duffy does the job. Solid performance as he heads into free agency. Curious to see where he lands. He's got options, for sure.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 18, 2017
Give that man a good contract, UFC.
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) March 18, 2017
If for any reason the UFC don't re-sign Duffy he would be a huge coup for Bellator especially with their expansion on our side of the pond.
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) March 18, 2017
Would be a shame to see him go, considering his skills/history w/ Conor. Also, with Bellator's push in IRE, suspect they'd be interested. https://t.co/YsTVrqwx16
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 18, 2017
Important win for Duffy there. Dominated over three rounds.. was a must win fight with his contract expiring
— SevereMMA.com (@SevereMMA) March 18, 2017
Hey @ufc you leave @Duffy_MMA ago you're of Paris Hilton Intelligence
— Blue (@FitnessByBlue) March 18, 2017
Joe Duffy deserves a new UFC contract, could easily make it into the rankings ?
— Seán Hegarty (@SeanHego_) March 18, 2017
Good performamce from joe duffy @danawhite would be crazy not to resign him.
— Paul Burns (@PaulBurns1879) March 18, 2017
After a performance like that I really hope that Duffy will re-sign with the UFC #UFCLondon
— Caoilte de Barra (@CaoiltedeBarra) March 18, 2017
Well done Joe!
Now we'll wait and see just how impressed the UFC top brass were by his performance in London.
