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Joseph Duffy wants to see the UFC lightweight division restored to its natural order as much as anyone, but he doesn’t view it as Conor McGregor’s responsibility to ensure that’s what happens next.

It’s been nearly a year since McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) captured the UFC lightweight title. In the meantime he’s taken a break from competition to witness the birth of his first child, and also crossed over into boxing for a high-profile showdown with Floyd Mayweather.

After the bout with Mayweather, there’s been rampant speculation about what “The Notorious” will do next. He’s listed several potential options, but the leading scenario coming from the McGregor camp appears to be a desire for a trilogy matchup with Nate Diaz (19-11 MMA, 14-9 UFC) rather than a title unification bout with interim 155-pound champ Tony Ferguson (23-3 MMA, 13-1 UFC).

Duffy (16-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who defeated McGregor by first-round submission in a November 2010 fight under the Cage Warriors banner, said no one should have influence over McGregor’s decision other than himself. In Duffy’s opinion, McGregor has earned that much.

“Look what he’s done,” Duffy told MMAjunkie at a Wednesday media event at Tristar Gym in Montreal. “He’s done amazing things. He’s won the featherweight (title), obviously jumped up, won the lightweight (title), jumped across to boxing, but he’s done a lot of work himself also. He’s done all the media stuff, everything else. Whatever his move next is going to be the best move for him, and that’s his decision to make.”

Duffy, who meets James Vick (11-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) in a 155-pound at UFC 217 on Nov. 4 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, is looking to climb the ranks into a championship fight of his own. He just signed a new seven-fight contract with the UFC and said he hopes to hold the belt before the end of that deal. For a budding contender such as himself, it would seem preferable to have a champion who will defend against the top challenger regardless of circumstance, but McGregor’s UFC career has been far from traditional.

In terms of knowing where he stands in the weight class, Duffy believes a unification match between McGregor and Ferguson is the logical move. However, he’s not going to criticize McGregor or the UFC for opting to go in the direction of the more profitable option in Diaz.

“For the rankings’ sake, I think obviously Conor against Ferguson is the right match,” Duffy said. “It kind of legitimizes the rankings again. I believe that’s probably the right matchup. It will stabilize the division again and then at least we’ve got a pecking order again so you know where you stand and what you need to do to get to the top of the pecking order.”

For more on UFC 217, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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