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[kickass32]

Paul Daley vs. Yuya Shirai Signed for BAMMA 5 -- MMA Fighting

Paul Daley vs. Yuya Shirai Signed for BAMMA

1/24/2011 10:47 AM ET By Ariel Helwani
Paul Daley's next fight will not be under the Strikeforce banner after all.

"Semtex" has agreed to fight Yuya Shirai at BAMMA 5 on February 26 at the Manchester Evening News Arena, MMA Fighting has confirmed with Daley's publicist Zara Shirwan and the organization. The fight, which will mark Daley's first in the UK in close to two years, will be for the vacant BAMMA welterweight title.

Fighters Only first reported the possibility of the fight last week.

Daley (26-9-2) made his Strikeforce debut in December, knocking out Scott Smith in the first round. Since his release from the UFC in May, the British slugger has won his last three fights in a row. Strikeforce has confirmed that they have signed off on Daley's BAMMA fight as well. Win or lose, he is expected to return to Strikeforce after the fight against Shirai.

Shirai (20-8) has won his last five fights in a row. He is the current DEEP welterweight champion, although that title won't be on the line in this fight.

BAMMA 5 is expected to be the first of five events in 2011 for the United Kingdom-based organization.

[TBEAR]

Semtex by KO

[KevoOnTheRadio]

He should be fighting Diaz this Saturday damn it.

[0mega1]

Originally Posted by KevoOnTheRadio

He should be fighting Diaz this Saturday damn it.

sorry but that would make too much sense for Strikeforce! and Coker will let his fighters fight wherever and whoever they want as long as it doesnt make sense for strikeforce.

[rob_bills]

I really hope Daley fights Diaz, not only will the shit talk be epic but Daley has a good chance at putting Diaz to sleep

[Eric T Smith]

Sooner or later Strikeforce is gonna regret letting their fighters fight in other promotions. It's ridiculous. First you have a Heavyweight Champion who fights elsewhere much more than he fights for you, now another one your most talented fighters is fighting elsewhere? What happens if one of these guys loses? And I'm not talking about super fights. It would be one thing if it was Melendez fighting Alvarez or something like that, but it's not. If one of Strikeforces top fighters loses to a no name, it brings a lot less respect to the Strikeforce brand. I'm not putting down Shirai and I'm not a fan of Strikeforce, but I am an MMA fan and I wanna see good fights that mean something.

[DanC]

Originally Posted by rob_bills

I really hope Daley fights Diaz, not only will the shit talk be epic but Daley has a good chance at putting Diaz to sleep

For sure man. Daley is a brutal striker and whilst Diaz has some good stand-up, I see Daley's strength and power as a great advantage. Sure he would have problems on the ground, but I could see that fight staying on the feet.

[Daellusx]

This is an example of why I'm not much of a fan of co-promoting. Or maybe it's just that SF is doing it wrong, i dunno. But this seems kind of stupid to me to have someone like Daley ,who can bring in some viewers, NOT fighting for you. Why is he fighting for the BAMMA belt? WTF is BAMMA anyways? This guy should be fighting for SF as much as possible to try and build up the WW division. Does Coker know that he needs to build up his weight classes?

I support cross promoting for super fights for sure. But having guys fight in other orgs because they havnt been setup for any fights with their "home" org seems silly to me. If SF cant find a fight for Daley there is something seriously wrong with whoever is doing the matchmaking.

[TBEAR]

Originally Posted by KevoOnTheRadio

He should be fighting Diaz this Saturday damn it.

This

I dont know if Coker wants to take the chance of Diaz being put down for a nap.

If that fight ever happens I think Semtex KOs diaz if it stays standing. Diaz would own the ground though if it gets there.

[MMA4EVERRR]

Sooo does this mean that Daley will be a no-go for the March SF event?

I read about him being on the card with opponent TBD but I guess SF cant find him a WW to compete against...I guess that is what happens when you dont wanna resign guys like Heiron, Riggs. I know KJ said Daley wasnt worth his time and SF prob felt the same way.

Anyways, good luck to Daley in this one, sure he will get another KO.