Props: MMAHQ.com
Quoteworthy:
"Well first I wasn’t going to take it because I wanted some downtime after this training camp but my team spoke about it and we’re confident that we’ve got a good game for this fight and this is the right decision for us. I’m going to smash him, take his belt then I can take all the time off I want.... There’s no way he’ll stand up with me. He might think he wants to but his coaches won’t allow it; Cesar Gracie’s a great coach and he won’t want him trading punches.... I’m a better athlete than he is. He’s a really dangerous grappler but he’s got to get in close enough to make it work and I’m not going to give him the chance. I’m going to smash him within three rounds. We do have a more complex game plan than that but that’s as simple as I can break it down at the minute."
And so it officially begins. Brash British banger, Paul Daley, lobs the latest trash-talking grenade in the direction of Strikeforce Welterweight Champion, Nick Diaz. "Semtex" recently agreed to challenge the proud Stockton, Calif., product in the main event of the Strikeforce event scheduled to take place at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, Calif., on April 9, 2011. He's fresh off a first round stoppage (strikes) of Yuya Shirai at BAMMA 5, which was supposed to be for the promotion's vacant welterweight title. But a funny thing happened on the way to the Manchester Evening News (MEN) Arena: Daley failed to make weight by about a half-pound and the fight was switched to a three-round, non-title fight. He promises it won't happen in April. Daley also remarks that Diaz, who rarely if ever backs down from a brawl, won't stand in the center of the cage and sling leather for long. That's because his coach, Cesar Gracie, won't let him. Sounds like reverse psychology. Nonetheless, will Daley make good on his pre-fight prediction or is Diaz just too dangerous and well-rounded to let that happen?