LAS VEGAS – Joe Duffy isn't one to call attention to himself. He's soft-spoken and humble. He prefers to let the spotlight shine on others.
Yet, the UFC lightweight is inextricably linked to the most outlandish, over-the-top fighter of them all. An Internet search for information about Duffy will turn up two words – Conor McGregor – more than any other.
If you are a featherweight or a lightweight in the UFC, the thing to do these days after a win – before thanking God, your family or your teammates – is to call out McGregor.
The outspoken featherweight champion is the big money fight in both divisions, and just about everyone near those weight classes wants a piece of him.
In 2010, Duffy submitted McGregor with an arm triangle in just 38 seconds in a fight in Cork City, Ireland. The bout, at the time, received virtually no attention outside of the Emerald Isle.
But as McGregor has rocketed to prominence and become one of the two biggest names in combat sports (along with former women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey), the fight is discussed far more often.
Duffy has a significant fight with Dustin Poirier on Saturday at UFC 195 at the MGM Grand Garden that he's trying to focus upon. But it's hard when just about everyone he meets wants to discuss McGregor.
Duffy and McGregor are Irish and both have stellar records. Duffy is 7-0 as a boxer and 14-1 with 13 finishes in MMA.
That, though, is where the comparisons end.
"You know, I understand that everyone wants to talk to me about Conor, and I get why," he said. "But I'm a different person than Conor. And I want to make my own name. This fight [with Poirier] is without a doubt very significant because a win over him proves I'm someone who can make a run at the title."
Duffy, who is 2-0 in the UFC, isn't ranked at lightweight yet. But Poirier is 12th and a win by Duffy would likely slip him into the rankings.
And once he's ranked, he will never be too far away from a championship opportunity.
McGregor's presence will complicate things for Duffy, but their history could ultimately help. McGregor has made it clear he wants to become the first man to hold, and defend, two UFC belts at the same time, and he's got his eye on lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.
McGregor is a massive featherweight, and forgetting about his interest in holding two belts simultaneously, it's not clear he's going to be able to make the 145-pound weight limit much longer.
If he goes to lightweight, that will make a rematch with Duffy all the more realistic assuming that Duffy can get past Poirier and move into the rankings.
McGregor is all about big fights, and a bout with Duffy isn't that big yet. That can all change, though, if McGregor targets him and calls him out. McGregor is a brilliant promoter and would no doubt build Duffy's profile if the UFC ever matched them.
Duffy gets that, but it's almost as if he is uncomfortable talking about it.
"It's disrespectful of Dustin for me to be talking about, or thinking about, anyone else when I've got to fight him [on Saturday]," Duffy said. "Conor and I, we're at different places in our careers right now. We're different people. The way I am, I put all of my time and my focus into the opponent who is in front of me, and I don't concern myself with much else. And this is a very important fight and it's all I'm thinking of."
Duffy is known for his submissions, but his brief stint as a boxer has made him a vastly better MMA fighter because it's made him dangerous on his feet, as well.
He fought professionally as a boxer in 2013, winning all seven of his fights. The level of his opponents wasn't good – they had a combined record of 43-92-5 when they fought him – but he was just learning the sport.
He also trained with former WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee and James DeGale, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist and current IBF super middleweight champion.
"He was a tough guy, which you'd expect coming from MMA," Lee said of Duffy. "But I was impressed by his grasp of the fundamentals of boxing, something you might not expect. Also, he was heavy handed, and a good body puncher. He earned my respect from the few sparring sessions we had."
That boxing experience could come in handy on Saturday when he meets Poirier, who has been outstanding since returning to lightweight from featherweight.
The bout was supposed to be held in Dublin on October, but was scrapped when Duffy suffered what was termed a mild concussion in one of his final sparring sessions. He didn't think much of it, but when he arrived in Ireland for the fight and underwent the required medical tests, he learned of the injury and that it would force postponement of the bout.
"It was a tough one to take," he said of being yanked from the card three days out. "I had gone through a hard camp, and there were a lot of trials in it. People weren't happy, but I'm glad we could get it scheduled again."
A win over Poirier almost certainly would put him into the UFC's rankings, and that would again stoke talk of his old win over McGregor.
Either way, Duffy wants to earn his reputation off of what he does in the UFC, whether or not that includes a fight with McGregor.
"It's a blessing to be in the UFC because you get a chance to fight the best fighters in the world," he said. "That's what you dream of, to be in there with the best. I just want to take the best fights I can each time."
