After an intense and brutal exchange in the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Donegal born Joseph Duffy suffered his first defeat in the UFC circuit to Dustin Poirier.
The disappointing outcome of this rescheduled fight - which was originally intended to take place at the UFC night in Dublin - marks the second overall defeat in Duffy's fighting career. It also scuppers his chances of qualifying for a spot in the Top 10 list of Lightweight UFC fighters which in turn compromises the possibility of earning a rematch with Conor McGregor.
"My nose is crushed for sure. Joe hit me with a lot of punches. He had a lot of volume," - @DustinPoirier at #UFC195 pic.twitter.com/gBzg90ZwzB
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) January 3, 2016
And although Duffy managed to survive the three round tie with Poirier, the judges sided with the American when they lifted the score cards.
The final results read out 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 in favour of Poirier. But while the end product suggests Poirier won with conviction, Duffy enjoyed spells of dominance too.
The early phases looked promising for Duffy. He profited from his background as a boxer to land some nice facial strikes, but noticing that he wouldn't be able to match the Irish fighter on his feet, Poirier swiftly changed the dynamic of the fight and threw Duffy to the canvas with a takedown where he began to work his way to victory with some elbow hooks to the face.
By the second round, Poirier was had a firm grasp of the momentum of the fight and squeezed in an early takedown with some relentless ground and pound efforts to diminish Duffy's power of pulling himself back into the contest.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
