5 Reasons the UFC should re-sign Paul Daley

5 Reasons the UFC should re-sign Paul Daley

by Ben Heather @benheather

Paul Daley's name is once again in the news regarding a possible return to the UFC so Kingdom MMA have come up with 5 reasons why the UFC should re-sign him and forgive him for his controversial past.

1. He's Exciting

Paul Daley always has and always will put on exciting fights. He doesn't know how to be in boring fights. If you are ever bored and want to see some of the most exciting knockouts or fights in MMA then get yourself on to YouTube and search for Paul Daley, you will not be disappointed.

Daley has finished his opponents with some of the most brutal knockouts you will ever see and in my opinion was involved in the best one round fight of all time against Nick Diaz. All in all if he made it back to the UFC the fans wouldn't be disappointed and have to witness a guy afraid of losing, instead they will see a warrior who always comes in to finish the fight.

Just look at some of the fights we have seen recently - Luke Barnatt vs Sean Strickland, Andrei Arlovski vs Brendan Schaub and all of the fights so far in TUF 19. I guarantee you this would not happen in a Paul Daley fight.

2. Selling potential for Fight Pass cards

For the past few years the UK fans as well as some others from around the world have been calling for Paul Daley to come back to the UFC. As for members of the press, they bring up Daley's name every few events in one of Dana's scrums. This proves that Paul Daley still has a big name in the MMA world, can you imagine the response from the fans if Daley got added to the upcoming UFC Dublin card.

Although I don't think the UFC would put Daley straight in to a headline role, he certainly has the draw to be capable of selling tickets based on him alone being on the card for a UK or European event. You can't tell me Paul Daley vs anyone in the welterweight division isn't a better, more exciting fight than some of the co-main events EMEA has seen in the last few years, Dollaway vs Carmont, Pearson vs Couture, Stann vs Sakara etc.

In my opinion, Paul Daley returning to the UFC would certainly get fans talking - love him or hate him, he will create a buzz around that event and his name alone will go a long way to selling a lot of tickets.

3. He matches up well with a lot of top guys

I'm just throwing this out there, in my opinion Paul Daley is the best welterweight in the UK and is in the top 3 welterweights in Europe. I would say only the European elite level fighters such as Gunnar Nelson and Tarec Saffiedine are up there with him on the European scene. Can you imagine Saffiedine vs Daley - fireworks.

Thats not all, Matt Brown vs Paul Daley, Carlos Condit vs Paul Daley, Tyron Woodley rematch, Erik Silva vs Paul Daley, all these fights are ridiculously exciting, mouth-watering bouts which are extreme winable fights for someone of Daley's calibre.

Sure Daley has struggled in the past with being taken down by wrestlers and I am sure if he returns he will be tested again, however, but if the fight stay's standing for long enough Daley can finish just about anyone in the UFC welterweight division.

4. He is better than a lot of the guys the UFC has signed lately

Look at all the fighters who have signed for the UFC in the past year. With all due respect tell me, if Dashon Johnson who recent joined the UFC with a 9-0, but against opponents with a combined record of 13-50 is a UFC calibre fighter? If he is, then Paul Daley definitely is.

A quick glance at the fighters section on UFC.com shows a welterweight division with guys like Daniel Sarafian(1-3), Bobby Voelker (0-4), Peter Sobatta (1-3) etc signed to the promotion. I promise you, if you give Paul Daley 4 fights back in the UFC he will have a better record than any of those guys.

With the UFC doing more and more shows, the level of talent being signed by promotion of late is reducing. Global expansion means the addition of more local talent, who in most instances just simply aren't cut out for the UFC. Paul Daley is still an elite level fighter and until he is given the chance in the UFC again will not be able to do anything other than what he is doing of late to prove he can still compete at the top level by beating lower level guys.

5. He is sorry

I do not know how many more times he can say he is sorry or how many different methods he can use to apologise. He has apologised on his Facebook page, in interviews and even recently sent a letter to the UFC to apologise again.

That being said though, ultimately the decision as to whether Daley will ever return to the UFC is going to be made by one person and as of last week Dana White still wouldn't be happy about him returning. I only hope that opinion changes in the near future as if Paul Daley decides to stick to MMA the UFC is the promotion where somebody as skilled as Daley deserves to fight. Life is about living and learning and Daley has done that, at some stage we can only hope Dana White will be willing to forgive and forget.

Holloway vs Fili and Ellenberger vs Medeiros set for UFC 172

Two more fights added to UFC 172 in April

by Ben Heather @benheather

UFC 172 which is due to take place on April 26th has just added a couple of extra fights to the card and these should be sure to excite the fans.

Andre Fili will meet Max Holloway in a featherweight battle. Fili who made his UFC debut at UFC 166 taking the fight on less than two weeks notice and missed weight.... though this wasn't a massive shock as when he took the fight he weighed 178lbs. Fili managed to cut 30lbs but couldn't get down to the 146lb limit. However, when he got in to the Octagon he didn't disappoint again. He dominated the fight from start to finish when he picked up the win by TKO in the second round.

I certainly am looking forward to seeing him back in the Octagon again and I am pretty sure Dana White will be too after praising his performance last time out.

Fili's opponent at UFC 172 will be Max Holloway, who ended a two fight losing streak at UFC Singapore defeating Will Chope via second round. Before that he had lost to Conor McGregor and Dennis Bermudez but always comes to put on a show and with Fili's fighting style this should be a great fight for the fans.

Also added to UFC 172 is Joe Ellenberger who will be making his UFC debut at the same event as his brother Jake will be making his return from injury. Ellenberger, will meet Yancy Medeiros who defeated Yves Edwards by KO at UFC Fight for the Troops 3 last year and both men will be looking to continue up the ranks with a win in April.

Below you will find the current UFC 172 card

Jon Jones vs Glover Teixeira
Jake Ellenberger vs Tarec Saffiedine
Yancy Medeiros vs Joe Ellenberger
Max Holloway vs Andre Fili

Tarec Saffiedine Injured, Robbie Lawler Now Meets Siyar Bahadurzada in Seattle

Robbie Lawler vs Siyar Bahadurzada now set for UFC on Fox 8

by Tommy Strong @Strong_tea

Tarec Saffiedine (14-3 MMA) the last ever Strikeforce welterwieght champion, has been forced to pull out of his UFC debut bout against Robbie Lawler due to an injury.  Its unsure at present how long the injury will keep Saffiedine out for, so lets hope it isn't too long before we get to see him make his octagon debut.

Saffiedine has been replaced with the excellent striker Siyar Bahadurzada (21-5-1 MMA 1-1 UFC) with the fight scheduled to take place at UFC on Fox 8 on July 27th in Seattle. Siyar was on a 7 fight win streak (6 via TKO/ KO) before his last bout against Kim Dong-Hyun UFC on Fuel TV in Japan back in March. He lost that fight via unanimous decision and will be eager to get back to winning ways. A win over Lawler would certainly make up for his loss in March.

Lawler (20-9-1 NC) has had a very turbulent couple of years, not being able to get a run of results together. However, he surprised many in his most recent fight and his return to the UFC against Josh Koscheck with a first round TKO stoppage.

With both men carrying heavy hands and plenty of knockout power, we could be in for a real treat of a fight.

The UFC on Fox 8 card will be headlined by a Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson defending his belt against John Moraga.

Two more fights added to UFC on Fox 8

The UFC on Fox 8 card is starting to come together with two more fights announced today

by Scott Cumming @tummidge

Hot on the heels of the Jake Ellenberger vs. Rory MacDonald announcement comes another fight that could define the future landscape of the welterweight division as Robbie Lawler gets set to take on, the last man to win under the Strikeforce banner, Tarec Saffiedine.

Lawler (20-9, 5-3 UFC) comes into this bout on the heels of an upset victory over Josh Koscheck at UFC 157. He won by first round TKO and placed his name as someone to watch in the division being only the second fighter to knock Koscheck out. This be only his second fight at welterweight after spending the past 8 years at middleweight where he was formerly the EliteXC middleweight champion.

Saffiedine (14-3) is one of the last Strikeforce imports to make his debut with the UFC and does so as the last holder of the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship beating Nate Marquardt by unanimous decision in January. The Team Quest fighter is currently on a four fight win streak with his last loss coming to Tyron Woodley in January 2011.

The two fighters currently sit at 8th (Saffiedine) and 9th (Lawler) in the UFC's official rankings and a win for either man will propel them towards a top five placing and get them a step closer to contendership for a title fight.

The second fight announced today sees another Strikeforce veteran looking to follow up on a surprise victory as Bobby Green gets set to fight Danny Castillo in the lightweight division.

Green (20-5, 1-0 UFC) picked up a "submission of the night" win against Jacob Volkmann at UFC 156 and came back in the fight having been smothered by Volkmann's wrestling game in the first round before settling down and taking over the fight. Green will go into the bout on a five fight winning streak with three of those victories coming by submission.

Team Alpha Male's Castillo (15-5, 5-2 UFC) took a unanimous decision win against Paul Sass in February and will look to build another winning streak of his own. He was riding a three fight win streak until a KO defeat at the hands of Michael Johnson.

UFC on Fox 8 will take place on the 27th July at KeyArena in Seattle.

The latest fight card for the event includes:
Jake Ellenberger vs. Rory MacDonald
Robbie Lawler vs. Tarec Saffiedine
Mac Danzig vs. Melvin Guillard
Danny Castillo vs. Bobby Green