Now, I am going to start off this writing piece by saying that I am not one of them “Paul Daley is a douche” type of guys what-so-ever. In fact, it makes me sick to see and hear so many people bash Paul Daley on a day in and day out basis for doing something that most of us secretly is glad he did to Josh “Big Mouth” Koscheck. It has become popular to bash Paul Daley for some reason, so I guess my article as well as opinion will be in the unpopular group that actually feels that Paul Daley deserves a second chance in the UFC.
Now, I am going to start off by stating why I believe he deserves a second chance in the UFC. The reason is simple...Other's have done much worse and gotten another chance. Gilbert Yvel punched a referee and basically knocked him the fuck out. Phil Baroni put his hand on a referee as well. Tito Ortiz, who is one of my personal favorites in the sport shit on Dana White each and every chance he got. Paul Daley and Josh Koscheck had a very heated lead-up to their fight much like Michael Bisping and Jorge Rivera. The truth is...The UFC WANTS these heated pre-fight situations because it sells the events.
Dana White knows what makes money and he knows that the best sold fights stem from true hatred such as Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson's lead up to UFC 114. I am a Michael Bisping supporter, but even HE did worse than Paul Daley did to Josh Koscheck. Should Paul Daley had been suspended? Sure he should have. Should he have even been fired? Hell, maybe. However, time has now passed and its time to forgive due to the fact that he is one of the best in the world and has an amazing ability to draw fans to his fights. Lets face it, he has the best LEFT HOOK in the business and people love to watch him knock people out. Even as a villian, people want to see him get beaten so they will watch his fights. People are up for his fight with Nick Diaz more than I have ever seen anyone up for a Nick Diaz fight.
Here's the sad truth about Paul Daley though. Daley is shooting his own self in the foot however since the UFC and Zuffa bought out Strikeforce. You would think that he would just be smart enough to shut the fuck up and fight, but instead, he has went out of his way to make sure his voice is heard. He even had the nerve to act like “maybe he didn't want to work for Zuffa again”. Why the hell would he even say that knowing that Zuffa owns the entire sport damn near now? Is he trying reverse psychology on Dana White? Does he really think that shit will work with Dana? What Paul isn't understanding is that Dana White is a man that doesn't like to look foolish and the main reason Paul Daley is not CURRENTLY in the UFC is because Dana White doesn't want to look like a liar by going back on his word. Dana was so adamant about Daley NEVER fighting in the UFC again, he would look like a liar if he let him back in. Dana is too arrogant to take that shot at his persona.
However, Dana had a way out of this situation by keeping Strikeforce around. If Daley beats Nick Diaz and becomes the Strikeforce Welterweight Champion, Dana White would have a legitimate reason to go back on his word and bring him into the UFC. The reason is simple as he eventually will want to fold the Strikeforce brand and have no questions regarding the REAL WORLD CHAMPIONS of each class. If Daley dominates the Strikeforce Welterweight division, there is no doubt in my mind that someday, he will be set up for a Strikeforce vs. UFC superfight for the undisputed World Championship.
Paul Daley needs to shut up and fight right now. He is good enough to prove all of the haters wrong about him and that is the truth. He can't stop wrestlers? Look, every fighter out there has a weakness and that just happens to be his biggest weakness. I think he can still be successful and he is young enough to where I am sure that he will improve that hole in his game. Paul Daley isn't a rookie in this game. Paul has 38 fights under his belt and is only 28 years old. The truth is that by the end of his career, he will easily have over 50 fights if everything goes well. He has a record of 27-9-2...Out of his 27 wins, 20 of them have been knockouts or TKO's. He has only seen the judges 8 times in those 38 fights, which shows that this man is exciting as shit to watch.
This leads up to Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley for the World Welterweight Championship. The question going into this fight in my opinion is simple. Has Daley let his mouth end his career if he loses this fight? If he loses to Nick Diaz, does he also lose all leverage to negotiate with Dana White at all? The truth is that a loss here would hurt Paul Daley much worse than a loss would hurt Nick Diaz. Nick Diaz is a bonafide Welterweight superstar and will always be around in my book. Dana White may not have signed Nick Diaz before, but I doubt that when his Strikeforce contract is up, Dana will be letting him go anywhere else. A loss by Daley in my opinion leads him to Bellator or BAMMA in the near future.
If Paul Daley wins and can keep his mouth shut, he may have a chance at a future with Zuffa. However, since he has already chosen to run his mouth and shoot himself in the foot, the truth is that this has become a MUST WIN situation for Paul Daley. I believe that he is fighting for much more than just a Welterweight Championship here in this fight. I am unaware at this point in time how many fights Paul Daley has left on his contract with Strikeforce, but I do know that none of them will be more important than this one right here. The question is “Does he realize the importance of this fight and can he beat the great Nick Diaz?”
I personally think that Daley HAS TO KNOW deep down inside that this fight is the most important of his career. If he is so much of an idiot as to not know this, then he deserves what he gets. However, I am going to just assume that he is smart enough to know that this is the most important fight of his career. So, that leads us to one question...Can he beat Nick Diaz? My answer is yes...and no....here is why...
Standing up is the only chance he has and it MUST be a knockout or TKO. Point wise, Nick Diaz's ability as a boxer would beat Paul Daley when it comes to earning points from the judges unless Daley is able to mix in some knockdowns along the way. He must knock Diaz out or down and follow up with an impressive ground and pound. He cannot risk trying to be techinical with Diaz. He must go for the kill in this fight and knock him out. Personally, this is what I think will happen in round two. I think that round one will be a feeling out process and I even think that Diaz will win round one based on striking of all things. I can see Diaz out jabbing him in round one and the media and crowd going nuts thinking that Diaz is going to beat Daley on their feet. I think he will get cocky and arrogant in round two and poke his chin out like he always does. I think this will be his downfall and Daley will catch him with the best left hook in the business for the KO win.
However, if this fight goes to the ground, Daley will lose immediately. I am sure that the Gracie camp is telling Diaz to take this fight to the ground and not risk the standup war. The truth is that I think Nick Diaz will refuse to listen and let his pride and ego step in the way of reasoning. I think Nick Diaz will want to prove that he can stand with anyone, much like he did with Cyborg and Noons. What he doesn't understand is that Paul Daley is a different kind of beast than them two gentlemen. Paul Daley truly has knockout power with just ONE shot. He doesn't need to mix his game up on his feet because it truly just takes one shot. If Diaz is smart, he will take Daley down and submit him. However, if Diaz was a smart man, he would have already been in the UFC to begin with and probably working on a series of fights with George St. Pierre. His lack of intelligence is why he is where he is right now in his career. He is the second best welterweight in the world, but intelligence wise, he is no where close to most on the list. I think that lack of intelligence and logic will cost him his title and save Paul Daley's career.
In closing, I ask you...Is this fight going to determine Paul Daley's career in mixed martial arts? I think so...The good news for Paul is....I think his future is bright if he can just maintain some sanity and keep performing. He must get back on Dana's good graces and he must do it quick. Either way, this fight has A LOT of meaning and I can't wait to see it go down.
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