ONE OF CONOR McGregor’s former opponents is backing the Irish star to bring Jose Aldo’s 10-year unbeaten run to an end next month.
Aldo’s UFC featherweight title will be on the line when he faces McGregor in the main event at UFC 189 in Las Vegas on Saturday, 11 July.
McGregor has yet to taste defeat since joining the UFC in 2013, with his last career loss coming way back in November 2010 when he was submitted by Joseph Duffy.
Dublin native McGregor has since embarked on a remarkable run of 13 consecutive wins, and Duffy expects his fellow Irishman to make it 14 in just over a fortnight’s time.
“I think McGregor knocks Aldo out,” Duffy told The42. “I think Aldo with his striking seems maybe a bit too aggressive; he rushes things now and again. So I think Conor will catch him on the way in.
“Conor will drop him and finish him off with a bit of ground-and-pound within three rounds. I’d honestly say he’ll maybe catch him in the second round, but that’s definitely the way I see the fight going.”
Duffy will also be in UFC action against a Brazilian opponent next month. The Donegal lightweight is set to face Ivan Jorge in Glasgow on 18 July.
They’re currently competing in different divisions — Duffy is at lightweight, McGregor at featherweight — but both fighters have previously expressed an interest in changing weight classes.
A rematch between the pair would likely be a lucrative match-up for the UFC at some point in the future — perhaps at the top of the bill for the organisation’s long-rumoured stadium event in Ireland.
Duffy says he’s focused on carving out his own path for now, but the 27-year-old Montreal-based fighter would be open to the possibility of another meeting with McGregor should the opportunity present itself.
“It’s hard to say at the moment because I’m pretty early in my UFC career and Conor’s fighting for a world title,” Duffy said. “But if it comes to a point where we’re both at the same level and in the same weight class, I think it’s something that could fill Croke Park.
“But we’ll see. I’m not here chasing Conor or anybody else. I’m doing my own thing, he’s doing his and we’ll see what the future holds.”
