Michael Page isn’t fond of Paul Daley’s actions after his Bellator 179 bout this past Friday night (May 19).
Daley took on Rory MacDonald inside the SSE Arena, Wembley in London, England. “Semtex” lost the fight via second-round submission. After the bout, Daley went into the crowd and charged at Page.
At one time, Page and Daley were considered friends but that has changed over the last few months. Speaking with Ariel Helwani on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour,” Page said he anticipated Daley making a scene:
“I kind of expected it. Because I felt he went in there knowing that if he wins the fight, he would automatically call out Douglas Lima, going for the belt, and if he lost, which he did, he would call me out. So, I think that was just very tactical. But I have to say, I’m extremely disappointed and I’ve lost all respect for Paul Daley. And it’s not because of him calling me out.”
While “Venom” expected Daley to cause a stir, he said he still lost a ton of respect for the fellow British welterweight.
“The main reason was his mom was in the crowd, distressed and angry after the incident. And obviously, knowing that your family is there, you have to be careful, you have to be professional about how you handle yourself. And I had to kind of explain and calm her down. We had a lovely conversation; although it was tense, I had to calm her down. It left her feeling a lot better afterward obviously, but I would never put my mother in that situation, having to defend my battles over something that I caused. So I have to say that I’ve lost a hell of a lot of respect for him.”
