Tag: Strikeforce+Diaz+vs+Daley

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive

Whether it’s to the head or the body, the left hook has always landed like an explosion. Even when he was a 15-year-old fighting for no real reason, Paul Daley was “knocking out grown-ass men,” as he puts it. These days, Daley is among the most feared strikers in MMA, a KO artist who has separated opponents from consciousness on many an occasion.

It is a gift that has made him a fair amount of money and put him on the verge of a major championship a few times, but the British bomber is still looking for that crown. His next opportunity comes as the challenger in Saturday’s Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley main event.

Though he’s bluntly honest in saying that his training camp could have gone better, he’s coming to America with the idea of roughing up Nick Diaz.

“I don’t think Nick is going to come forward against me,” Daley told MMA Fighting. “He has done it in previous fights, but I doubt he’ll come straight on against me. He’s been in with some heavy hitters but I don’t think he’s been in with anyone who hits as hard as me and is at that stage where he’s smashing people up … I feel I’m in that kind of mode that if I hit anybody, they’re going to sleep. If Nick Diaz wants to try that out, I’d love to give him the opportunity to do it.”

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive

The recent blockbuster Zuffa-Strikeforce deal immediately brought with it some strange bedfellows. Not surprisingly, most of the pairings included UFC president Dana White, who had ripped fighters, TV executives and others in the press, cut others, and sworn off a few completely.

Among those who found themselves in strange situations was welterweight star Paul Daley, who had less than one year earlier been fired and banned for life from the UFC by White for a UFC 113 after-the-bell punch against Josh Koscheck. With the Zuffa-Strikeforce ownership change, Daley and White were suddenly in the fight business together again. Or were they?

When he heard the news of Strikeforce’s purchase, Daley publicly debated the possibility of backing out of his scheduled welterweight title fight with Nick Diaz. But the British bomber eventually decided to follow through on his promise to fight, and the two stars will meet on April 9 in San Diego in Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley. But despite the eyes of his old boss on him, Daley told MMA Fighting that he harbors no desire to redeem himself before the Zuffa brass.