In terms of excitement in MMA, especially when it comes to strikers, there are few who match the pure adrenaline rush and aesthetically pleasing style of Britain’s Paul Daley.
Daley, who now competes for Bellator, is one of their top welterweights on the roster. The brash Brit has had just one fights since returning, but he already finds himself in a high-profile spot with the company.
In fact, Bellator is so invested in Daley, they already have him scheduled multiple times. Not only will he be fighting this weekend at Bellator 140 in an MMA bout, but they already are banking on him performing in a kickboxing match for the Bellator-Glory co-promoted event.
For Daley, taking a kickboxing match is nothing new. The Brit has been taking kickboxing bouts for a long time and has even been taking them between MMA fights during his time post-UFC and pre-Bellator.
“I’ve spent a long time training kickboxing, so nothing has really changed in my training,” Daley explained in an exclusive interview with Bleacher Report. “I would love to do both, but my contract isn’t structured in a way that allows me to split time. If an opportunity arose for me to fight for a Glory title, I would love to take that chance as well.”
Daley’s return to Bellator saw him fight Andre Santos, a respected Brazilian mixed martial artist. That said, many fans viewed it as a “gimme” bout for Daley, setting him up for a showdown with champion Douglas Lima in the aftermath.
What ensued was an interesting bout. Daley was unable to finish Santos, though he did win the bout. Daley, however, was not impressed by his own performance, explaining in his post-fight interview that he did not want a title fight for his next bout.
Fans were surprised at his response to a win, expecting that he’d be the next man for Lima. Daley points out, in retrospect, his reasoning for all of that.
“I was really disappointed with my performance in my last fight, to be honest,” Daley confessed. “I take pride in my fights and finishing, so not finishing felt like I lost. Looking back, it wasn’t as terrible as I thought it was. It was actually quite exciting and the fans were entertained, so what I really did was look at that fight to look for technical mistakes.”
Moving forward, Daley takes a fight this weekend at Bellator 140 in Connecticut against east coast MMA veteran Dennis Olson. It’s another set-up fight for Daley, who many believe is still making a beeline toward a title shot.
While Daley is a knockout artist, Olson is a grappler who has won most of his fights via submission. It’s your classic striker-versus-grappler matchup, so Daley plans to stay off the mat against Olson in an attempt to wreck him with his powerful punches and kicks.
“This is a tough fight, he’s gonna come out and try to wrestle me,” Daley pointed out. “He’s gonna fight better than he’s ever fought because this is a huge opportunity for him. People will be entertained by this fight, no doubt.”
If you’re not new to the scene, you know Daley’s personality. He is very entertaining on the microphone and not afraid to make call-outs.
Many times, using your mouth can get you better opportunities. Just look at Chael Sonnen, Conor McGregor and Bethe Correia.
For Daley, a win this weekend doesn’t necessarily mean he will use verbal bullets to get a shot at the title.
“I am sure Douglas Lima will call me out if he wins, but I won’t be calling him out. I’m in a position where everybody is coming after me anyways, so there are a ton of fights available for me.”
In Daley’s eyes, though, the biggest fight for him moving forward isn’t a title fight. In fact, the biggest fight he can earn at this point is against a former adversary.
That adversary is Josh Koscheck.
The two met at UFC 113 in an infamous bout that remains a black mark on Daley’s career.
The bout, which was during Koscheck’s rapid ascension toward the UFC title picture, saw the American stifle Daley for three rounds using wrestling. When the final bell rang, Koscheck walked away, but he was socked by a frustrated Daley.
It got Daley cut by the UFC, and he’s never been back. It was an embarrassing moment for Daley, but something that can lead to a big-money bout in Bellator now, especially since there is still heat between the two.
“The fight with Josh Koscheck will happen, it’s up when Spike TV and Bellator want it to happen. I’m ready whenever. We can fight next week, it doesn’t matter to me.”
“I think I will end 2015 with either the Koscheck fight or a title fight. If it’s the Koscheck fight, I will end the year a hero because I will rid the MMA world of an annoying punk. I’m surprised he didn’t retire after his UFC run, but I will retire him. He sees Bellator as a retirement plan to store away some extra dollars, but I will rip his head off in the cage.”
Daley seems to have things planned out for the rest of the year and moving forward. He always has one eye on his current task and one eye on the future.
That’s why you should expect even bigger things to come from the man they call “Semtex.”
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