With feared British striker Paul Daley inking a new deal with Bellator, a major grudge match with MVP could finally take place.
Paul Daley is back in the Bellator fold. Despite a very public feud with the MMA promotion, ‘Semtex’ has come to terms on a new deal. And with it should come the much anticipated grudge match against Michael Page. The pair of welterweights have been jawing back and forth for over a year, and now it seems that MVP vs. Daley may finally happen. Both men are now confirmed to be part of Bellator’s welterweight grand prix.
What a show it should be. If it does in fact go down.
ESPN, who first reported the news Wednesday, quoted Bellator CEO Scott Coker as saying “We got the deal done — we get the big fights done! Paul is in the tournament.” However, there was no confirmation that Daley would meet MVP in the first round, and MMA Junkie has suggested a pairing with Lorenz Larkin is still a possibility.
Missing the boat on finally putting on Daley vs. Page would be tragic, however.
Both fighters are flashy strikers, with Daley the proven veteran and Page the young upstart (despite Page already having left his 20s behind). However, potential fights between the pair have been rumored, signed, and fallen through several times. Daley’s last effort was a loss to Jon Fitch, at Bellator 199, a fight that saw the Brit bashing his own fight on the televised broadcast while it was still unfolding.
At that point, it seemed like ‘Semtex’ might be done with the promotion, but cooler heads prevailed.
Daley’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, was quoted by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani on Twitter as saying that “there’s one thing left that we want, and it’s to beat up a chicken-legged motherf*cker from England and put this sh*t to rest. Anywhere else I guarantee this deal would have not got done.”
