Joe Duffy, now retired, has recently claimed that former UFC double champion Conor McGregor turned the Irish fighting community against him.
Once upon a time, Joe Duffy submitted Conor McGregor in his second professional MMA contest. The bout occurred in 2010 on Cage Warriors 38 in Cork.
Following the loss, McGregor’s journey into superstardom would begin by accumulating 15-straight victories, leading to the Irishman attaining the UFC featherweight championship defeating Jose Aldo within seconds of the opening bell. Not to mention capturing the UFC lightweight championship and knocking out Eddie Alvarez in spectacular fashion.
Duffy retired from the sport in 2020 after suffering his third straight defeat to Spanish native Joel Alvarez in Abu Dhabi.
In a recent interview, Duffy addressed his relationship with McGregor, discussing the pair’s back and forth in 2015 during a UFC press conference. The 34-year-old believed that McGregor was the reason for the Irish fans not supporting him as they did him.
Joe Duffy Addresses Conor McGregor Situation
“Conor (McGregor) tried to kind of turn the fans against me then because he probably didn’t like the attention that I (had), and obviously the tie between us, was getting at the time,” Joe Duffy told The Auld Triangle Irish MMA Podcast with hosts, Andy Stevenson, Caoilte de Barra, and Ian O’Neill during a recent appearance.
“So that was something frustrating too because obviously, that’s something I’ve obviously been proud of,” Joe Duffy explained. “Even through I grew up in Wales, I was obviously a proud Irishman.”
“That was annoying because that’s one of the reasons you’re fighting because you’re proud of your country and you want to represent it.” (Transcribed by TalkSport)
McGregor is set to make his UFC return after suffering a gruesome leg break in his third meeting with Dustin Poirier. No date has been pencilled in, nor an opponent yet, but with everyone, McGregor fight. We know it’ll be big.
