A welterweight bout has been added to the upcoming Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson event scheduled at the end of July. A pair of former No. 1 contenders will square off in Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley (27-10-2) and Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos (18-14).
Daley’s management broke the news in a Press Release to MMAWeekly.com informing them of the fight.
Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson takes place on July 30 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The event is headlined by a heavyweight bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Strikeforce 205 lb champ, Dan Henderson. A Women’s Welterweight title bout is also included on the card between champion Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate.
“I’m happy to be fighting again. It’s a big fight. For those who haven’t seen the Melvin Manhoef vs. Cyborg fight, watch it and expect the same outcome for Cyborg … He’ll be knocked out,” Daley said.
“Just like me, Cyborg’s been around since the Cage Rage days. He brings experience and power to the cage, like me. He’s an aggressive guy, like me. And it will be an entertaining fight, like mine always are.”
With Nick Diaz abdicating the Strikeforce welterweight title to fight UFC champ Georges St-Pierre, the winner of this bout between Daley vs. Santos will certainly have title implications.
Daley had a four fight win streak stopped by Diaz last April. Despite the fight only being one-round, it is a potential “Fight of the Year” candidate. Diaz stopped Daley by TKO with just three seconds left in the opening round. Previous to that ‘Semtex’ earned wins in four different organizations, stopping three of four opponents and winning one bout by decision.
Santos’ last fight was also against Diaz, losing by second submission in January at the Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg event. ‘Cyborg’ had won two straight, including winning his welterweight debut against DREAM 170 lb champ Marius Žaromskis at a Strikeforce: Los Angeles event.