Bellator welterweight standouts Michael Page and Paul Daley have been in a public feud for the last year or so. It all started when Page called for a fight with Daley but Daley blew off the challenges because he felt that Page wasn’t on his level as a fighter. It appears that Daley’s view on […]
Bellator welterweight standouts Michael Page and Paul Daley have been in a public feud for the last year or so. It all started when Page called for a fight with Daley but Daley blew off the challenges because he felt that Page wasn’t on his level as a fighter. It appears that Daley’s view on Page has changed as at Bellator 179 in London, Daley took on Rory MacDonald in the main event. Daley ended up losing the bout by submission. Daley was also in attendance for the event as he was supposed to fight Derek Anderson in the co-main event but was forced to withdraw with a knee injury. After the main event, Daley booked it out of the ring and went after Page, which led to both fighters getting into a scuffle right. It seemed that Bellator MMA officials would take advantage of this and book a fight between the fighters.
According to Page, Daley still is refusing to fight him. As seen in the video that was sent to Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting, Page explained that Bellator approached him about headlining against Daley for Bellator’s return trip to England in September. But Daley refused to take the fight. Page added that this is the final straw and that he’s no longer interested in a fight with Daley since Daley has passed up the chance to fight him on several different occasions.
“So check this. Bellator contacts me with some news. Amazing. We are gonna main event you and Paul Daley back in London in September. Jeez! That is just what I wanted to hear. After Paul Daley loses horribly to Rory MacDonald, he decides to call me out. He gets outside of the cage and conducts himself unprofessionally, running at me and causing a bit of a scuffle outside of the cage. No problem. Now it’s gonna happen. Main event, In London. September. But check this! Paul Daley, for the third time this year, has said he’s not going to fight me. I know, I know, I know. You’re thinking the same thing: that doesn’t make sense! He called me out! But yes. Paul Daley, you’re a disappointment to every UK fighter. You’re a disappointment to every fan in MMA that wanted to see this fight, and there’s a lot of people that wanted to see this fight. You’re a straight disappointment. You are forever going to be known as Paula ‘Tampax’ Daley. That is your legacy. And like I said, this is the third time now, so you’re out. Don’t ever ask me to fight again.”
Page has been trolling Daley on social media in an effort to get a fight with him, including creating his own mini diss track and more on Instagram. Page still has to complete his rehab on his injured knee in the coming months but vows that he wants to return as soon as possible. Unfortunately, it appears that his next fight won’t be against Daley.
Paul Daley doesn’t mind getting personal with Michael Page if it boils down to it. “Semtex” is coming off a second-round submission loss to Rory MacDonald at Bellator 179. After the bout, Daley charged at Page in the crowd. The two used to be friends, but have had some bad blood brewing the past few […]
Paul Daley doesn’t mind getting personal with Michael Page if it boils down to it. “Semtex” is coming off a second-round submission loss to Rory MacDonald at Bellator 179. After the bout, Daley charged at Page in the crowd. The two used to be friends, but have had some bad blood brewing the past few […]
Michael Page was supposed to fight Derek Anderson in the co-main event of Bellator 179 over the weekend. However, that bout was scrapped after Page pulled out of the fight. Even though he didn’t fight at the event, Page was in attendance for the show and a target of a heated in-cage callout from Paul […]
Michael Page was supposed to fight Derek Anderson in the co-main event of Bellator 179 over the weekend. However, that bout was scrapped after Page pulled out of the fight. Even though he didn’t fight at the event, Page was in attendance for the show and a target of a heated in-cage callout from Paul Daley following Daley’s loss to Rory MacDonald in the main event. This led to Daley charging at Page outside of the cage, which led to a scuffle between the two fighters in the stands of London’s SSE Arena.
During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting, Page said he wasn’t surprised to see that type of behavior from Daley.
“I kind of expected it,” Page explained on The MMA Hour. “Because I felt he went in there knowing that if he wins the fight, he would automatically call out Douglas Lima, going for the belt, and if he lost, which he did, he would call me out. So, I think that was just very tactical. But I have to say, I’m extremely disappointed, and I’ve lost all respect for Paul Daley. And it’s not because of him calling me out. The main reason was his mom was in the crowd, distressed and angry after the incident. And obviously, knowing that your family is there, you have to be careful, you have to be professional about how you handle yourself. And I had to kind of explain and calm her down. We had a lovely conversation; although it was tense, I had to calm her down. It left her feeling a lot better afterward obviously, but I would never put my mother in that situation, having to defend my battles over something that I caused. So I have to say that I’ve lost a hell of a lot of respect for him.”
Their rivalry dates back to last year as the two former acquaintances began taking potshots at one another through the media. Despite the bad blood, Daley stated several times that they were not on the same level and even referred to Page’s the Adrien Broner to his own Floyd Mayweather. Daley went one step further by calling Page the ‘Justin Bieber of MMA’ after Page released an original music video calling out Daley.
Image from ‘Poketouch’
“I find it funny, because there’s a time and a place for everything, and since all the hype started, we’ve been at a couple of events where we’ve been sitting across the room from each other, and this was the first time he’s looked me in my eyes,” Page said. “And he decides to do it then. I was a bit annoyed, but then at the same time, I found it a bit funny because, one, if he exited the cage the opposite way, within five steps he could’ve looked me straight in my face, and there was hardly anybody around at that side. He went out the opposite way and then decided to create a scene and charge towards me. I hadn’t actually said anything to him at the time, so I would love to actually hear what triggered him to turn around and charge at me anyway. I hadn’t said anything, I hadn’t shouted anything, I hadn’t waved at him, there was nothing. So, again, I think he’s just trying to sell another fight and distract people from the whooping he actually got in the cage.”
The incident somewhat overshadowed Daley performance against MacDonald, which was a one-sided loss as MacDonald submitted him. Daley said in the post-fight interview that MacDonald “played the safest way to get the win” by resorting to his wrestling.
“It was horrible,” Page said. “You know when you’re watching the back room when they’re warming up for a fight and you have a training partner helping you out? It just felt like Paul Daley was in there as Rory MacDonald’s training partner, and Rory absolutely destroyed him. Again, I find it funny that he had immediate excuses after the fight. Again, that just shows your character, because he got completely schooled in every area and his excuses were, ‘oh yeah, he took the safe way out. He decided to take me down. He knew that he’s better than me there.’ Now, why does he know that? You’re supposed to be an established MMA fighter. It shouldn’t be a case of, ‘yeah, he knows he can take me here and win.’ You should be working on all areas of your game. So I just feel like, immediately after losing, you should have the decency to congratulate someone for that kind of performance.”
Page noted that he expects to spend the next few months recovering from his knee injury but wants to get back inside the cage very soon to settle his issues with Daley. Page wants the fight to be booked as soon as it can be and promised that he would give Daley his third loss inside the Bellator cage in his hometown.
“I would love for Bellator to set up another show immediately in London, and I think I owe it to the London crowd, because my injury this time,” Page said. “I would love to come back here as soon as possible. I think me and him alone would fill this place. I think the hype around this fight is going to be insane, and there’s very few times you’re going to see two English people doing this fighting, causing so much hype for one bout, and I think we need to get it done as soon as possible. I don’t want to wait until next year. I want it done now. I want my next fight to be him. I actually guarantee, in that fight, he’s going to try and take me down. I guarantee it. He was talking about Rory taking the safe option — I guarantee he tries to take me down when we fight, because he’s not going to handle my striking. He’s not going to handle my movement. He’s not going to handle my precision. He’s going to show a lot, he’s a very emotional fighter as well, as that’s going to drive him to make very bad mistakes in that fight.”
Michael Page isn’t fond of Paul Daley’s actions after his Bellator 179 bout this past Friday night (May 19). Daley took on Rory MacDonald inside the SSE Arena, Wembley in London, England. “Semtex” lost the fight via second-round submission. After the bout, Daley went into the crowd and charged at Page. At one time, Page […]
Michael Page isn’t fond of Paul Daley’s actions after his Bellator 179 bout this past Friday night (May 19). Daley took on Rory MacDonald inside the SSE Arena, Wembley in London, England. “Semtex” lost the fight via second-round submission. After the bout, Daley went into the crowd and charged at Page. At one time, Page […]
Former UFC title contender Rory MacDonald made a successful debut against Paul Daley in the main event of yesterday’s (Fri., May 19, 2017) Bellator 179 from the SSE Arena in London, England. Faced with arguably the most feared knockout striker in Bellator’s suddenly booming welterweight division, MacDonald showed why he is still one of the elite […]
Former UFC title contender Rory MacDonald made a successful debut against Paul Daley in the main event of yesterday’s (Fri., May 19, 2017) Bellator 179 from the SSE Arena in London, England.
Faced with arguably the most feared knockout striker in Bellator’s suddenly booming welterweight division, MacDonald showed why he is still one of the elite 170-pounders in the world when he submitted the British longtime veteran with a rear-naked choke.
It was a victory that sent notice to the rest of the Bellator roster that MacDonald is here to take over. Watch the full fight video highlights of “The Red King’s” debut win courtesy of MMA Fighting here:
Bellator 179 was a memorable show, and the ending was fitting to a great night of fights. After former UFC welterweight title contender Rory MacDonald had choked out Paul Daley in the main event of Bellator 179, there was a scuffle. Chamatkar Sandhu was on-site and captured some great footage of Daley confronting top prospect […]
Bellator 179 was a memorable show, and the ending was fitting to a great night of fights. After former UFC welterweight title contender Rory MacDonald had choked out Paul Daley in the main event of Bellator 179, there was a scuffle.
Chamatkar Sandhu was on-site and captured some great footage of Daley confronting top prospect Michael Page. After the brief scuffle happens, Daley is taken away by security. You can watch it here:
Page was scheduled to fight Derek Anderson in the co-main event of the show but unfortunately, he had to withdraw from his fight due to a knee injury. Although Page as never been booked to fight his fellow compatriot, Daley has been very vocal in the past about what he thinks of Page.
In previous interviews, Daley has called Page “deluded,” and said of Page’s latest injury-related withdraw, “It seems that every time there is a genuine test for Mike, where we see if we can see something else, not someone who can necessarily beat him, but someone who will be able to highlight something or see if he has the right quality to go forward, he seems to get injured.”
Bellator 179 took place on Friday, May 19, 2017, at the SSE Arena in London, England. The prelims aired on online at 7 p.m. ET while the main card aired on tape delay at 9:00 pm EST on Spike TV.
