Paul Daley and Sabah Homasi were yet another pair of fighters who were supposed to face off pre-pandemic. Booked in 2019 and again in 2020, the latter fight cancelled due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, it felt as if the fight might be one that got away. The third time was the charm, however, as on Friday night, the duo finally faced off at Bellator 257.
“Semtex,” with a full 59 fights to his name to start the night, had made some not-so-subtle hints about retirement over the past several months. But after the bout, his career appeared very much alive.
Homasi almost immediately fired a kick upstairs in Friday’s 175lb catchweight showdown with Daley. A moment later, he’d repeat that high kick. Neither got through, but a right hand would, placed expertly by the ear, rocking Daley! Daley was under heavy fire at that point, wobbled and covering up. Somehow, “Semtex” survived, but moments later, he would be rocked again. Down went Daley, and Homasi followed up with bomb after bomb as Daley held on for dear life. Once again, Daley somehow managed to survive, with the fight being seconds or less away from a stoppage.
Homasi, having tired from repeatedly bouncing his fists off Daley’s face, settled into guard, as Daley worked to wall-walk up. When he did get back to his feet, Daley slipped off a kick, but soon settled in, heeding his corner’s call to lead with his jab a couple of times. At the end of the round, Daley hit home with several knees, hurting Homasi — though perhaps not as much as Homasi had hurt him earlier in the frame.
In the second round, Daley scored an early knockdown of Homasi thanks to his right, moving in with hammer fists hoping for a finish. Homasi would scramble out, but a short time later, Daley drilled him with a short left hook off a caught kick. That dropped Homasi again, and this time there was no getting back up. A couple of follow-up strikes was all it took, and Paul Daley had win number 43.
Official Result: Paul Daley def. Sabah Homasi by TKO, Round 2, 1:44
