UFC castaway, and recent Shark Fights 13 winner, Paul “Semtex” Daley (25-9-2) will make his Strikeforce debut on Dec. 4 in St. Louis against Scott Smith (17-7) according to sources close to the fight.
The matchup, which will take place at 170 pounds, was first reported by MMAWeekly.com and has since been confirmed by MMAWeekly.com.
Daley, who has had trouble in the past making the welterweight cut-off limit of 171 pounds, defeated Jorge Masvidal earlier this month at Shark Fights 13 in Texas by unanimous decision. “Semtex” weighed in at 171.75 pounds for that fight and sacrificed 10% of his “show purse” to Masvidal.
The Brit is on a two fight win streak since losing to Josh Koscheck at UFC 113 in Montreal in May. A fight which saw Daley snap in frustration by punching Koscheck in the head after the end of the fight. That strike cost Daley his job with the UFC. Since then he appeared in Australia at the Impact FC 2 – The Uprising: Sydney event where he submitted Daniel Acacio and then earned the win over Masvidal.
Meanwhile, his opponent, Smith is coming off a loss after back-to-back bouts with former Strikeforce middleweight champ Cung Le. Both men went 1-1 with Smith earning the first win in December by knocking Le out in the third round. Le got his revenge when he earned a second round TKO over Smith at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum in June.
Smith has had a varied career that has saw him fight as high as light-heavyweight, earning the WEC lhw title, and dropping down to 170. Before his bouts with Le, “Hands of Steel” dropped a 180 pound catchweight fight to Nick Diaz in June of 2009.
If the fight happens both men will appear on the Strikeforce St. Louis: Henderson vs. Babalu II card from the Scotttrade Center in St. Louis, Miss.