Paul Daley ‘would love’ to fight Rory MacDonald: ‘He’s the new prodigy after BJ Penn’

Bellator MMA welterweight Paul Daley is interested in taking on former UFC title challenger Rory MacDonald, who joined the Bellator MMA roster in August.

Welterweight knockout artist Paul Daley (38-14-2) will be back in the Bellator MMA cage this Friday night, as he takes on Derek Anderson in Connecticut. “Semtex” is coming off a rather one-sided loss to Douglas Lima back in July, but has still won 9 of his last 11 bouts overall.

A win for Daley over Anderson would get him back on course for bigger fights, possibly a title shot. One of the matchups that is of considerable intrigue for Daley is vs. Rory MacDonald, who left the UFC in free agency to sign with Bellator earlier this year.

“Definitely it’s a fight that interests me,” Daley said (in an interview with MMAjunkie). “I would love to test my skills against a guy that’s challenged for the UFC title. It would be a great fight. He’s the new prodigy after B.J. Penn. It would be great because he has a name, and it would be good to test my skills against him. We’ll see what happens. I think he will probably go straight for the title. We’ll see. If the fight is offered, I’ll take that.”

MacDonald (18-4) is targeting his Bellator MMA debut for the summer of 2017, as he intends to take time off from competition to heal his nose, which was busted twice over by both Robbie Lawler and Stephen Thompson.

Before Daley fought Lima, the original plan for the Bellator London main event was for Daley to rematch Josh Koscheck, a fight which saw Daley’s ill-conceived post-fight sucker punch attempt earn him a lifetime ban from the UFC. Koscheck withdrew from the bout due to injury and was subsequently replaced by Lima. As for rescheduling a Koscheck fight, Daley appears to be moving in from getting revenge on an old rival.

“I think he’s past that – I think Koscheck is past it,” Daley said. “It’s quiet on the Koscheck front, and I’m not interested in calling him out or anything. I just don’t think the guy’s head is in the game. He’s quiet, and I think he’s a guy that’s going to stay there. More power to him. If you’re not really feeling it, then it’s dangerous to accept such a fight against me.”

Daley vs. Anderson will be on the Bellator 163: Davis vs. McGeary main card, which starts at 9 PM ET/PT on Friday, November 4th, and airs live on Spike TV.

Bellator MMA welterweight Paul Daley is interested in taking on former UFC title challenger Rory MacDonald, who joined the Bellator MMA roster in August.

Welterweight knockout artist Paul Daley (38-14-2) will be back in the Bellator MMA cage this Friday night, as he takes on Derek Anderson in Connecticut. “Semtex” is coming off a rather one-sided loss to Douglas Lima back in July, but has still won 9 of his last 11 bouts overall.

A win for Daley over Anderson would get him back on course for bigger fights, possibly a title shot. One of the matchups that is of considerable intrigue for Daley is vs. Rory MacDonald, who left the UFC in free agency to sign with Bellator earlier this year.

“Definitely it’s a fight that interests me,” Daley said (in an interview with MMAjunkie). “I would love to test my skills against a guy that’s challenged for the UFC title. It would be a great fight. He’s the new prodigy after B.J. Penn. It would be great because he has a name, and it would be good to test my skills against him. We’ll see what happens. I think he will probably go straight for the title. We’ll see. If the fight is offered, I’ll take that.”

MacDonald (18-4) is targeting his Bellator MMA debut for the summer of 2017, as he intends to take time off from competition to heal his nose, which was busted twice over by both Robbie Lawler and Stephen Thompson.

Before Daley fought Lima, the original plan for the Bellator London main event was for Daley to rematch Josh Koscheck, a fight which saw Daley’s ill-conceived post-fight sucker punch attempt earn him a lifetime ban from the UFC. Koscheck withdrew from the bout due to injury and was subsequently replaced by Lima. As for rescheduling a Koscheck fight, Daley appears to be moving in from getting revenge on an old rival.

“I think he’s past that – I think Koscheck is past it,” Daley said. “It’s quiet on the Koscheck front, and I’m not interested in calling him out or anything. I just don’t think the guy’s head is in the game. He’s quiet, and I think he’s a guy that’s going to stay there. More power to him. If you’re not really feeling it, then it’s dangerous to accept such a fight against me.”

Daley vs. Anderson will be on the Bellator 163: Davis vs. McGeary main card, which starts at 9 PM ET/PT on Friday, November 4th, and airs live on Spike TV.