Joseph Duffy would rather stay true to self, test free agency than sign proposed UFC deal

UFC lightweight Joseph Duffy has been feeling the full brunt of a frigid Montreal January.

The cadence of that unmistakable Donegal lilt relays the remnants of a bad dose but, in the coming days, he’ll be well enough to begin the fight camp at the Tristar Gym for what might be his last bout with the world’s foremost promotion.

Duffy (16-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is set to face Reza Madadi (14-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in London on March 18 at UFC Fight Night 107.

All fights are accompanied by uncertainty, but for Duffy, this one is fraught with more than usual. The 28-year-old has fought four of the five fights that were stipulated in the contract he signed with the UFC two years ago and, having reached an impasse at the negotiation table in the summer, Duffy will technically be a free agent the moment his business with Madadi is concluded.

The UFC offered him a new deal, but he and his manager, Graham Boylan, decided it was not a satisfactory one. After proposing what they believed was a level of compensation Duffy was worth, the talks finished in a stalemate. For Duffy, the ordeal was cut-and-dried. There was no grandstanding from either side and, in the end, it all came down to the numbers.

“I was speaking to Graham back and forth,” Duffy told MMAjunkie. “Obviously, beforehand, we came up with what we were after and Graham was in talks with them. To be honest, there wasn’t too much talking or negotiating in it. They said what they were offering, we said no, but that was really it, to tell you the truth.

“The only way you can look at it is that it’s just business. You can’t let your emotions get involved with any of that stuff. They’ve got their plans, I’ve got mine and, hopefully, we can meet in the middle and get something sorted.”

Of course, Duffy’s situation is by no means unique and, like never before, fighters are embattled with the UFC in their search to be paid accordingly. In days gone by, competing in the octagon was almost payment enough. But now, athletes are demanding to be remunerated in accordance with the sport’s staggering growth.

“Anyone who is in this sport are aspiring to be in UFC,” Duffy said. “For a time, it was the only organization that held any prestige. Fighters didn’t care about how much money they were making because that’s where you had to be to go to the top of your sport. Because there wasn’t too much money at the start, for us, it was enough just to be the best in your field.

“When you look around and see other fighters starting to make a stand, it makes a big difference. I’ve seen the way other fighters have been treated, and there’s been a bit of a change.”

Joseph Duffy

Duffy arrived in the UFC with his reputation enhanced, almost blindingly, by the fact that at that time, he was the most recent man to beat Conor McGregor. Furthermore, an immaculate boxing record (7-0) and his two impressive victories with Cage Warriors upon returning to MMA meant that he enjoyed a higher profile than the average European debutant when he starched Jack Lindsey in just shy of two minutes at UFC 185. However, his resumption of mixed martial arts was so recent that, when the UFC came calling, Duffy was initially reluctant to take up its offer.

“I definitely wasn’t begging for a spot in the UFC, that’s for sure,” he said. “Myself and Graham weren’t exactly sure whether to sign because I had only two fights after coming back. I hadn’t been back training MMA for that long. The whole time I was boxing, I hadn’t done any wrestling or grappling.

“At that stage, I had only seven or eight months MMA training done and very little cage time. We were thinking about turning it down, sticking with Cage Warriors and getting a little more cage time. But the UFC made a good offer, so we said we’ll take it while it’s going.”

After his victory over Lindsey, Duffy earned a first-round submission of Ivan Jorge at UFC Fight Night 72 in Scotland, which apparently convinced the promotion enough that he should headline its return to Dublin in a five-round main event against a resurgent Dustin Poirier. A mere two fights into his UFC career, like McGregor, Duffy was asked to spearhead a showcase in his homeland.

Duffy suffered a concussion just days before he was scheduled to leave for Dublin, and the bout with Poirier was pulled from UFC Fight Night 76. Instead, in January 2016, he fought on the UFC Fight Pass-streamed preliminary card of UFC 195, and Poirier took a well-deserved unanimous decision win.

Duffy believes that the loss could have altered the UFC’s opinion of him and, in turn, led to a less lucrative deal during the brief contract talks. While he did not overlook Poirier, he may have made some ill-advised assumptions about the nature of the bout.

“For them, it was probably just a business. They were looking at Dustin for the third fight and then maybe me and Conor again in the future,” he said. “I would presume that was what was in their head, and then after the loss to Dustin, maybe they pulled back a bit and might have had second thoughts. It’s hard to guess what they were thinking. But for me, every time I go in there, I try to put on an exciting fight. That’s what they ask of us and that’s what I try to bring to the table.

“I think I was possibly too laid back, trusted my boxing too much and in the back of my head was probably thinking that, at some point, I’d catch him. That’s the only thing I could honestly say. But for sure, I wasn’t taking him for granted because, if anything, it was probably the biggest fight of my life.”

Joseph Duffy

Subsequently, Duffy took six months off to further refine his skills. At UFC Fight Night 90 this past July, he dispatched Mitch Clarke in 28 seconds with a rear-naked choke. He has not fought since.

Duffy is refreshingly candid about the contents of the contract he first signed with the promotion. He would be paid $16,000 to fight and the same again in the event of victory. With each win, $2,000 would be added to the basic package.

In the same month Duffy defeated Jorge, the UFC’s apparel deal with Reebok came into effect. It meant fighters no longer could display any other sponsors while at any official UFC events during a fight week. Because Duffy still was in the process of reaching five fights, he was entitled to just $2,500 from Reebok each time he fought.

Should he move on, the idea of the availing of sponsorship money is certainly appealing. But Duffy also pointed out his current financial situation is far from terrible.

“Look, we’re still getting paid and doing OK, so we can’t be too ungrateful,” he said. “We’re getting paid to do something we love. But you know, when you compare it to other sports and look at the percentage the promotion takes and the fighters get, considering we are the show and putting it on the line, that’s frustrating.

“The Reebok deal changes a lot. I know some of the fighters were making a lot of money when the sponsorships were available and, with Bellator coming up with big shows, people are starting to recognize them as a legitimate competitor for the UFC. So, it’s certainly something I’ll be talking to my management about when the day arrives.”

Joseph Duffy

Duffy’s relocation from London to Montreal coincided with his entry to the UFC. At Tristar, some of his more prominent stablemates have offered useful counsel during this time. One-time UFC welterweight title challenger Rory MacDonald departed for Bellator when he and the UFC couldn’t come to a mutually agreeable accord, and former welterweight champion Georges St Pierre has also had financial disputes with them of late.

Duffy said they told him to be patient, which is exactly what he’s doing. Now settled in an apartment in Montreal with his girlfriend, Duffy hopes to live in Canada permanently. But without employment security, that might not be possible.

“I really am happy here, and it’s such a pleasure to go to the gym,” he said. “I can’t see myself ever moving back, and looking at this place, I probably will stay here. But if I am going to stay, I need to hire immigration lawyers, and that’s not cheap. I need to get that stuff sorted because every time I cross over the border, I get quizzed. I just don’t want to get to the point where they stop me and I can’t go training.

“I’m just going to see how the chips fall. I know how everything works with the UFC, so if I got the right deal it would be great. But I’m not leaning toward anything because, who knows – the other promotions could be just as good or better.”

Despite the potential for such upheaval, Duffy is sanguine and does not take the UFC’s stance as a personal slight. He has always been frugal with his money, and though it may have yielded him a new deal, does not regret turning down a short-notice fight for the UFC’s trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland, this past November.

He remains hopeful that his stay with the UFC can be extended, but admitted to being somewhat disillusioned by the promotion’s shift toward prioritizing profile over prowess. To that end, he is just unwilling to play the game, because, ultimately, Duffy needs to be able to live with himself.

Joseph Duffy

“Since I started working with the UFC, I’ve met some amazing people and when you turn up a show and meet up with all the staff – in Europe or the States – it’s always a pleasure,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed being a UFC fighter and I’m leaving all doors open. If we can come to a deal, I’d gladly stay with them.

“But they seem to be looking for people who are talkers instead of guys who can put on good performances. With the social media and all the stuff, it just seems to be becoming more important than the fighting itself. That’s not who I am. I’m not going to sell out who I am just to make a quick buck. Down the line, I want to be able to show my kids and grandchildren the fights, and that I stuck to my guns and was who I was and did it my own way.”

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