After losing his original opponent, Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos, due to injury, former Strikeforce welterweight contender Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley (27-10-2) has verbally agreed to meet rising 170 lb star Tyron ‘T-Wood’ Woodley (8-0) at the upcoming July 30 Strikeforce event in Chicago.
The announcement was made by Strikeforce officials Saturday night on Twitter (@Strikeforce).
Their bout will certainly will take part on the Showtime broadcasted main card of the Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson event, which is set for July 30 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. MMAFighting.com has confirmed that the bout will not be for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight title, and will be a three-round, non-title bout.
Daley is coming off a title loss to former champ Nick Diaz, who vacated the title to fight Georges St-Pierre for the UFC belt. ‘Semtex’ was stopped by first round TKO with three seconds left on the clock last April at the San Diego event, in what was one of the most exciting five-minutes of the year. The loss ended a four fight win streak for the British striker since his loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 113.
Woodley remains undefeated so far in his pro career and brings in a good mix of wrestling into the fight, something that has proven to be Daley’s Kryptonite. ‘T-Wood’ has won six straight under the Strikeforce banner and after his last win in January over Tarec Saffiedine, was seen wearing a T-shirt that said “I Got Next” at the Diaz vs. Daley event. Woodley was campaigning for the next welterweight title shot, and may now get his chance to fight for the belt if he defeats Daley.
My wild card guess is that if Diaz losses to GSP, he’ll come back to Strikeforce and fight the winner of the Daley vs. Woodley bout for the 170 lb title sometime next year.