Paul Daley's Surprisingly Superb UFC Run

by Zak Woods on Jan 4, 2010 5:30 PM EST in Analysis Comment 7 comments

"I get more groupies now that I am 2-0 in the UFC, right?"

Paul "Semtex" Daley's surprising UFC run reminds WKR of the 2008 Arizona Cardinals.

Last year the Cardinals were a 9-7 team with substantial flaws that played the role of Cinderella during the post-season tournament somehow ending up in the Super Bowl. While Daley has yet to reach the top of the mountain, in other words, a title shot, he does find himself very close to the pinnacle of his profession. Never mind that Daley didn't have the best record before joining the UFC, never mind that "Semtex" had serious flaws in takedown and submission defense, never mind that he lost to Jake Shields and Nick Thompson.

The similarities of how Daley got tho this point and how the Cardinals reached the Super Bowl go further than a simple resume of punditry prediction. After the Cardinals beat the Falcons in the Wild Card round they headed to Carolina to face the Panthers. At the time Anquan Boldin was out with an injury and most observers thought that the Panthers would simply double cover Larry Fitzgerald while riding their two headed running back tandem of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart to an easy victory. Of course, someone forgot to tell the Panther's coaching staff this as they let Fitzgerald run rough shot through their secondary while having Jake Delhomme heave the ball to the opponent a dozen times.

In that same head-scratching manner Paul Daley now finds himself 2-0 in the UFC. For whatever reason Daley has fought Martin Kampmann and Dustin Hazelett --two fighters with excellent submission skills-- and both have decided to play to Daley's strengths. The result? Two knockout victories for "Semtex" who might be one fight away from his Super Bowl, a title shot against the welterweight champion.

Dana White has said that "[Daley]'s going to have to fight one of the top two contenders before we think about him fighting GSP." I guess that will be Paul's NFC Championship game.

Dana White went on to mentioned Jon Fitch or Josh Koscheck as possible opponents for "Semtex" (Dana also complained that the two teammates won't fight each other). Koscheck has to be the front runner as he recently withdrew from a UFC 109 fight with Paulo Thiago due to an injury while Jon Fitch is scheduled to fight Thiago Alves at UFC 111.

Truth be told, there are endless scenarios for what Zuffa could do with Alves, Fitch Koscheck and Daley --especially now that UFC 111 has two title fights-- but one thing is clear; Daley is on the verge of climbing the welterweight mountain in just three fights. But there could be one last barrier: the UFC.

Would Zuffa even roll the dice by putting Daley in as #1 contender and risk having a possible champion who lost to rival promotion's champion, i.e., Jake Shields? Now there is a conspiracy theory to chew on.

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Comments

Who cares about Daley

Who’s that hot piece of chicken?

Pee-pee money is not an employment history.

by finkrod on Jan 4, 2010 5:37 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

IMO, people are getting a little too freaked out about Daley POSSIBLY getting a title shot within his next 2 fights because he lost to Shields and Thompson. It’s MMA Math at it’s worst.

There have always been guys that didn’t deserve title shots. Matt Serra? Travis Lutter? Justin Eilers? Paul Puentello? Thales Leites? Dan Hardey? I say seize the moment while you can. Daley can be a big draw and is fun to watch. Sure he has some holes in his game, but there are only about a half dozen fighters in the world that don’t.

by Norm78 on Jan 4, 2010 5:47 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

True – half of it is timing…if there’s no-one else better at the time, or if every other deserving fighter has recently had their shot…it’s his turn. (if).

by scoozna on Jan 4, 2010 5:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs