Paul Daley

Paul "Semtex" Daley

Report: Shields to Defend Title Against Daley

Mark your calendars because this is going to be a fight you want to see.

It seems that Jake Shields‘ camp has finally made a decision about his next fight. He’ll reportedly defend his EliteXC welterweight title against Paul “Semtex” Daley at the organization’s latest edition of “Saturday Night Fights” on CBS, which will take place at the at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida on October 4th.

The news comes from MMA Weekly, who have confirmed the bout as taking place with EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw.

“Jake Shields and Paul Daley have a date on Oct. 4,” Shaw said. “Both fighters have verbally agreed. Bout agreements are out and we’re just waiting for them to come back in. Unlike some others, these are two guys that I trust their word.”

Continue reading "Report: Shields to Defend Title Against Daley"

Fight of the Day: Paul Daley vs. Mark Weir

From Cage Rage 23: Unbelievable in September 2007, here’s Paul Daley vs. Mark Weir for the vacant Cage Rage welterweight title.

Daley Confirms Return at EliteXC on Sept 20th

British welterweight star Paul Daley will indeed to return at action at EliteXC’s scheduled September 20th show, aptly titled “Showdown at the Pit”, which will take place at the University of New Mexico’s basketball arena.

Daley confirmed his participation at the show with MMA Weekly. He came out of a temporary retirement last month, knocking Bojan Kosednar at Cage Warrior’s seventh “Enter the Rough House” event in England. The win was Daley’s sixth in a row.

While the Nottingham native stopped short of revealing his opponent for EliteXC’s debut show in New Mexico, he did provide a clue as to who it might be.

“I will be fighting Sept. 20 in New Mexico, most likely against an undefeated ex-IFL fighter who cannot be named yet,” Daley said in MMA Weekly’s report. “I’m really looking forward to it. Right now I’m training my ass off. I’m always a slow starter in training camp, but I’m in my rhythm now. I beat this guy (on Sept. 20), I will no doubt be fighting for the EliteXC title next.”

Continue reading "Daley Confirms Return at EliteXC on Sept 20th"

The “Unfinished Business” Fallout Continues

The negative fallout from EliteXC’s second show on CBS is continuing. Yesterday the UFC and Spike TV blasted the organization for drawing lesser numbers on their network television broadcast than a replay of UFC 84: Ill Will in certain demographics last Saturday night. Gary Shaw and Doug DeLuca’s resignation from ProElite were also announced on Tuesday as well.

One of the things EliteXC heads DeLuca and Jeremy Lappen continually harped on in the weeks leading up to the event was the tremendous ticket sales they were enjoying. DeLuca stated that five days out from the event, they had already sold half of the available tickets and were expecting a sellout.

“We’re definitely well over half sold already,” DeLuca said during a pre-event conference call on July 22. “That was as of the weekend. I know we picked up a full head of steam on Monday. I’m really not too sure where ticket sales are at exactly, but we are fully expecting it to be a complete sell out.”

It turns out that DeLuca fibbed a bit.

Continue reading "The “Unfinished Business” Fallout Continues"

Daley Victorious in Cage Warriors Comeback

Popular British welterweight sensation Paul “Semtex” Daley marked his return to active competition with an impressive knockout of previously undefeated Slovenian Bojan Kosednar at Cage Warriors’ latest edition of “Enter the Rough House” on Saturday.

Daley announced his intention to retire from mixed martial arts earlier this year, citing a lack of interest in fighting anymore as one of the main reasons for walking away at such a young age. However Daley’s break only lasted six months and based on his performance against Kosednar, he hasn’t skipped a beat.

Kosednar simply had no answer for Daley’s superior striking. “Semtex” broke things wide open after landing a hard knee to Kosednar’s ribs, momentarily stunning him and allowing Daley to connect with a straight right that sent his opponent crumbling to the canvas for the first of four separate occasions in the first round. The final blow saw Daley put Kosednar to sleep with a left hook just seconds before the end of the round.

Norwegian prospect Simeon Thoresen remained perfect in professional action, submitting Matt Thorpe in the first round with a kimura. In other notable bouts, Jim Wallhead won an exciting unanimous decision over skilled grappler Fabricio Nascimento while Andre Winner and Abdul Mohamed fought to an unfortunate draw.

Continue reading "Daley Victorious in Cage Warriors Comeback"

Daley Accuses ProElite of Shady Business

Despite announcing his intention to retire from mixed martial arts earlier this year, welterweight sensation Paul “Semtex” Daley will return from a brief hiatus from the sport to go up against undefeated Slovenian Bojan Kosednar at Cage Warriors’ latest “Enter the Rough House” this afternoon.

However shaking off a little ring rust isn’t Daley’s biggest problem these days. His latest woes involve his current relationship with EliteXC parent company ProElite, with whom he has one-fight left on his deal with the organization.

“I’ve got a few things I want to get out in the air with regards to Pro Elite, Cage Rage and the future,” Daley said in a recent interview with Fighters Only Magazine. “I’ve got no contract with Cage Rage, my contract stands with Pro Elite. My fight with Cage Warriors seems to be a problem with the guys at Pro Elite.

“They tried to get me to fight for Cage Rage, which I wasn’t going to do on the principle that I’ve agreed to fight in my hometown,” Daley continued. “They’ve gone about it in a not so pleasant way, I think they could have gone about it a lot better. I can’t say much more for legal reasons but I think Cage Rage have had a lot to do with it.”

While it’s pretty easy to see why ProElite would want to use Daley in a Cage Rage show being that they are in a working partnership with the promotion, Daley claims that the company originally had no problem with him fighting for Cage Warriors this weekend but has since changed their stance on the situation.

Continue reading "Daley Accuses ProElite of Shady Business"

Weekend Focus Falls on British MMA

The mixed martial arts world will be setting their sights on the United Kingdom this weekend as the sport’s two most high-profile events take place overseas.

Cage Rage will put on their latest effort, entitled “Step Up”, Saturday afternoon inside the Wembley Arena in London, where the promotion has hosted the majority of it’s events. Controversial veteran Phil Baroni will attempt to snap a three-fight losing streak by moving down to welterweight for the first time in his career in the show’s main event, where he will take on fellow heavy-hitter Scott Jansen.

Robert Berry will fight for the first since knocking off the legendary Ken Shamrock at a Cage Rage event in March. He will take on Neil Grove in a rematch of their heavyweight battle last December, in which Grove picked up a first-round win after Berry’s corner stopped the fight. Other notable fights on the card include Mustapha al Turk battling James McSweeney for the vacant Cage Rage British heavyweight title and a clash between featherweights Brad Pickett and Cristian Binda.

Meanwhile over in Nottingham, Cage Warriors will host their seventh “Enter the Rough House” show, which will see welterweight sensation Paul “Semtex” Daley return from a brief retirement to go up against undefeated Slovenian Bojan Kosednar.

Daley has not fought since stopping former “Ultimate Fighter” cast member Sam Morgan with strikes at ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series show in January. It was Daley’s fifth consecutive victory. His counterpart, Kosednar, has won his first six professional bouts to start his career. Paul McVeigh and Steve McCombe will clash for the vacant Cage Warriors bantamweight title in the night’s co-main event. Other notable veterans competing on the card include Fabricio Nascimento and Andre Winner.

Paul Daley Changes Mind Again

Despite announcing his intention to retire from mixed martial arts earlier this year at the age of 24, it seems that Paul Daley has pulled a Michael Jordan and wants to come back and fight after all.

According to MMA Mania, Daley, who served as a color commentator during the U.K. television broadcast of Cage Rage’s “Extreme” event over the weekend, revealed his desire to return to active competition to those in attendance.

Daley specifically called out newly crowned Cage Rage British welterweight champion Che Mills, who defeated Marius Zaromskis due to a nasty first-round cut to claim the belt that Daley had vacated last month. The two reportedly had a brief staredown and exchanged some words inside the cage.

Daley last stopped Sam Morgan, a former cast member on the second season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, with strikes at a ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series event in January. Daley shook off a fast start by Morgan to land a devastating first-round elbow that put Morgan down for the count.

Daley Vacates Cage Rage Title

The Paul Daley saga continues…

Just a few weeks after it was reported that Paul “Semtex” Daley would not be competing at last month’s EliteXC and Strikeforce co-promoted “Shamrock vs Le” event in order to instead go on to defend his Cage Rage welterweight title at the promotion’s next event on May 10th, Daley has vacated his Cage Rage British welterweight belt.

Cage Rage officials reported the news on their official website this afternoon, where it was also mentioned that Daley may not be returning to defend his Cage Rage World title until early next year. The Nottingham, England native revealed his intention to temporarily retire from active competiton back in February.

Daley is coming off of an impressive knockout of former cast member of the second season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, Sam Morgan. Daley shook off a fast start by Morgan to land a devastating first-round elbow that put Morgan down for the count.

Marius Zaromskis and Che Mills will now battle it out for the vacant title at a Cage Rage event in the near future.

Report: Daley to Defend Cage Rage Belt in May

Despite announcing his intention to retire from mixed martial arts following a bout at the upcoming Elite Xtreme Combat and Strikeforce co-promoted “Shamrock vs Cung Le event, it seems that Paul “Semtex” Daley won’t hang up his gloves until at least the spring.

The news comes from Stash Capar of The Fight Network, who has learned that Daley will not be competing at next weekend’s event and instead will go on to defend his Cage Rage welterweight title at the promotion’s next event on May 10th.

“I’ll be defending my world title belt on May 10th in Cage Rage,” Daley said in the report. “No opponent has been confirmed yet.”

Daley’s comments come less than a month after the the Nottingham, England native revealed his intention to retire via an online message board account on Cage Warriors official website. Daley has also since vacated his FX-3 welterweight belt.

“As of now I will be stepping down as Cage Rage, FX-3, and KOTR champion,” Daley said back in February. “I’ve vacated all of these titles. Futher more, I will consider my self retired from mixed martial arts as of March 29th. On that date, I will fulfill my commitment with EliteXC.”

“Once I’ve found the path I originally set out on in MMA, I may return to this sport,” Daley added. “It may be six months, it may be six years, who knows.”

Daley is coming off of an impressive knockout of former cast member of the second season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, Sam Morgan. Daley shook off a fast start by Morgan to land a devastating first-round elbow that put Morgan down for the count.

No word on any potential candidates in terms of an opponent for the international star as of yet.