5 Reasons the UFC should re-sign Paul Daley
by Ben Heather @benheather
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.
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