British striker Paul “Semtex” Daley (26-9-2) will face his next opponent outside of the Strikeforce promotion by meeting the 170 lbs DEEP promotion champ, Yuya Shirai (20-8), in the UK a ta BAMMA 5 bout in the UK for that promotions welterweight title.
Fighters Only reported the matchup last week.
During today’s Strikeforce media call, the promotions CEO Scott Coker stated that Daley would be putting a shot at the Strikeforce 170 lbs title on the line by fighting at the BAMMA event.
A victory over Shirai will get him the next title shot against the winner of this Saturday’s Nick Diaz vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos bout. While a loss will mean a re-shuffling of the Strikeforce welterweight deck.
“If he loses, the deck’s going to get re-shuffled. If he wins, he’ll be the first in line to get the title shot.”
Daley has won three straight since his loss and dismissal at UFC 113 against Josh Koscheck. He’s fought for three different organizations in those wins, earning a submission (elbow) win over Daniel Acacio in Sydney the Impact FC 2 event, a unanimous decision over Jorge Masvidal at Shark Fights 13, and he KO’d Scott Smith last December in his Strikeforce debut.
Shirai has won his last five straight and is 8-1 in his last nine fights. He’s fought at DEEP, ASTRA, M-1 and DREAM events in all of those fights. He earned the DEEP welterweight title a year ago and has defended that title once. The belt will not be on the line when he faces Daley at the BAMMA event.