It was just about 11 months ago that Paul Daley made the biggest mistake of his MMA career.
Following a clear decision loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 113, Daley threw a punch at Koscheck well after the bell for the third and final round.
There was no doubt it was a sucker punch as Daley was frustrated by Koscheck’s ability to out-wrestle him for three rounds. Add to that Koscheck’s trash talk during the bout, and Daley was a little hot under the collar.
The sucker punch combined with clear eye gouging late in the fight got Daley cut from the UFC and President Dana White stated that Daley would never fight for the promotion again.
However, things have gotten interesting as Zuffa, the owner of the UFC, has now purchased Strikeforce, Daley’s current home. Daley will be fighting Nick Diaz for the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship on Saturday night.
The general feel is that eventually the UFC will bring Strikeforce fighters in once the promotion runs it contract out with Showtime. But, would the UFC take in Daley?
White has always come out with strong claims in the past. He has said Tito Ortiz would never fight for the UFC again on more than one occasion, yet Ortiz seems to find his way back.
White stated Chuck Liddell would never fight in the UFC again following a loss to Marucio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 97, yet Liddell was trotted out to fight Rich Franklin last summer at UFC 115.
White made claims that he would never put on “freak show fights” like other promotions just to sell a PPV. Yet, White admitted he did just that when he had Randy Couture fight James Toney at UFC 118.
While White may have taken a hard line with Daley, the past is the past, and White will likely do whatever is best for business. If Daley runs through the Strikeforce welterweight division, it would be in White’s best interest to back off his claims.
