When Paul Daley steps inside the Bellator cage tonight (Jan. 21) it’ll be his 55th professional mixed martial arts (MMA) bout. “Semtex” has been a professional MMA competitor since 2003. Despite his experience, Daley is only 33 years old.
Daley’s five-fight winning streak was snapped by Douglas Lima back in July 2016. Lima has since captured the welterweight title. “Semtex” told MMAJunkie.com that he would like to earn his shot at gold:
“(My goal for 2017 is) just to keep winning and take the marquee names – create a clear path toward the belt and a rematch with Douglas Lima or whoever has the belt at the time. That, for me, is my main focus. And just to keep enjoying the sport and enjoy the ride that I’m on.”
Sharing the cage with Daley tomorrow will be Brennan Ward. The bruiser from Nottingham was complimentary of his opponent.
“He’s a very animated guy, a cool guy, and we have very similar personalities. When our paths cross, it’s always been a high five. At the last fight, I was actually seated with his crew.”
For many fight fans, Daley vs. Ward has the potential to be Bellator 170’s fight of the night. In fact, that’s what many analysts are also expecting. Of Daley’s 38 wins, 28 of them have come by knockout. Ward has 14 wins with nine of them resulting in a knockout.
“Semtex” said he and Ward will bring their hard hitting styles in tonight’s bout.
“For the same reason I like him is the same reason we’re going to put on a fantastic fight. We are both characters who like to get the finish. We’re come-forward fighters. We don’t shy away from a fight. You won’t see us dancing around in circles in the cage. We’ll come and try to implement our game plan and get the finish.”
