Joe Duffy’s fine debut year earns recognition from the UFC

The Dubliner is keeping some fine company here...

Irish MMA star Joe Duffy has had a superb first year in the UFC, picking up a first-round stoppage in his debut against Jake Lindsey and a Performance of the Night submission victory over Ivan Jorge, and the promotion has recognised his fine start by ranking him among the Top 10 Newcomers for 2015. In fact, Duffy comes in fourth in the list, and the lightweight might even have finished higher on the list had he not seen his fight with Dustin Poirier postponed from October's UFC Dublin card until UFC 195 int he New Year. However, he still would have had no chance of topping the list thanks to Holly Holm's rise to stardom in the women's bantamweight division, where she shocked the MMA world by claiming the UFC title from Ronda Rousey in November. Duffy also trails English welterweight Tom Breese, who did feature on the UFC Dublin card where he decimated Ireland's Cathal Pendred, and 19-year-old lightweight wonderkid Sage Northcutt. Here's the full list: 1. Holly Holm 2. Tom Breese 3. Sage Northcutt 4. Joe Duffy 5. Makwan Amirkhani 6. Kamaru Usman 7. Magomed Mustafaev 8. Stevie Ray 9. Alex Oliveira 10. Ben Nguyen