Joe Duffy is getting to go back home. To his second home, that is, as Duffy lived in London, England for a while years ago in order to pursue his career in combat sports.

Since then, Duffy has recently relocated once more to Montreal, Canada to train at the famed Tristar Gym along the likes of Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald. Having said that, a spot on last month's UFC Halifax card might have been more comfortable for Duffy, but his position as the prelim headliner at Saturday's UFC Fight Night at London's O2 Arena serves other purposes.

"It would've been more convenient (to fight in Halifax), just from a financial point of view", Duffy told FloCombat via AG.Fight. "Obviously, bringing in nutritionists to help me make weight and that type of thing, it's much easier for them and it's much easier for me. But, obviously, it's exciting for me to fight closer to home. There will be a lot of people traveling across from Ireland, a lot of my friends from Ireland are working in London and then, obviously, for people from Wales it's only a couple of hours drive and I lived in London also, so I've got a bit of a fan base traveling from everywhere. London is probably a central point for everyone."

In London, Duffy will compete against Sweden's Reza Madadi in his fifth UFC fight.

After compiling two stoppages in his first two UFC bouts, Duffy lost a hard-fought decision to Dustin Poirier at UFC 195 in January of 2016. Since then, the Irishman rebounded with a 25-second-submission of Mitch Clarke this past July, but his most popular victory remains another sub-minute stoppage way back when. In 2008, Duffy tapped out Conor McGregor with an arm triangle choke just 38 seconds into their Cage Warriors bout.

As one of only three people right now who can lay claim to having defeated the sport's most popular figure, Duffy still doesn't intend on milking that cow en route to a money-making rematch against the UFC's former two-division champion. That being said, the direction the promotion is taking with super fights, athletes cutting the line for big fights because they bring in big money and others simply talking their way into those matchups is irking "Irish Joe" to a degree.

"A little bit, a little bit", Duffy said. "I think it's when the balance is lost. Obviously, you need them characters who are good for the entertainment side of things but you've got to remember that the sport is build around fighting. They can talk all they want and put on a show but if they don't show up on fight night and put on their show, then it's all for nothing. Obviously, I'm just going to be myself. I'm not going to try and be a different character. I'll just be myself and, hopefully, that's enough for everyone else to take to."

So far, it has been. And even though his name has gotten an additional boost with UFC fans ever since McGregor climbed to unprecedented heights in the sport, Duffy feels like his no-nonsense approach will continue to serve him well regardless of anything that happens around him outside of the cage.

"So far, I feel like I'm always in exciting fights. Ever since my Cage Warriors days I always felt like the fights were entertaining. I'm always looking for finishes. So I'd like to think that makes up for it. And I think the contrast between the way I fight and the way I am draws different people to the sport. Different characters. If everyone is the same, then it just becomes a bit boring, I suppose."

Even outside the cage, life hasn't exactly been boring for the Donegal native. After starting to train in Montreal, Quebec for his UFC debut in early 2015 and his subsequent move there into his own flat just minutes from Tristar, the financial aspect of the sport is starting to get more of Duffy's attention.

And even though a 50,000 Dollar Post-Fight bonus went his way after UFC Glasgow in 2015, Duffy got into a bit of a rift over his contract late last year. After negotiations for a new deal went south ahead of the UFC's return to Belfast last November, Duffy ended up not fighting on the card, for which the organization had an opponent in mind that Duffy deemed not suitable given his position in the rankings.

Duffy said that Reza Madadi, whom he will be facing at next week's UFC London to fight out his current contract, was not the opponent he turned down for UFC Belfast. And, so short before his fight, the Irishman doesn't think too much about what his negotiations will be like once he gets done with business on March 18.

"I suppose I'll just see how it goes", Duffy said about a potential stint as a free agent that is looming after UFC London. "At the minute, I just look at this fight and when that goes well, the rest of the stuff I'll deal with after, I suppose.

That being said, Duffy says he would like to get into the top ten at lightweight before the year ends, and he has a simple plan on how to get there after missing most of 2016: "I'd definitely like at least three (fights this year). Four would be nice but I think three is alright. That'd be proper."