Paul Daley: 'I fought GLORY-ranked kickboxers before, and I demolished them'

English knockout artist Paul Daley will be taking on Fernando Gonzalez at Bellator 142: "Dynamite 1" on Saturday night (Sept. 19, 2015), but it's not who he originally intended to fight.

"Semtex" is fighting on the GLORY portion of the historic hybrid card that features both kickboxing and mixed martial arts (MMA), and he wanted a ranked GLORY welterweight, specifically current welterweight champion Nieky "The Natural" Holzken.

"I wanted that fight," Daley told MMAmania.com. "That is the fight that I wanted. I asked for it. I sent emails to people at Bellator that it was the fight I wanted. I'm not sure how it worked, but something just didn't make sense for that fight. I wanted the toughest fight. I wanted Holzken or I wanted a GLORY ranked kickboxer. I've fought GLORY-ranked kickboxers before and I demolished them (Daley knocked out the current No.6-ranked GLORY welterweight Aleksandr Stetcurenko in a bout in Ireland last year). I wanted to prove that, on this big "Dynamite" stage fighting with 10 ounces (gloves). I'm just happy to be fighting whoever."

Gonzalez -- who like Daley, also competes in Bellator's welterweight division -- may be a former WBC Muay Thai champion and on a four-fight winning streak, but he is still considered an afterthought and heavy underdog against Daley.

"I don't think it's fair to count Gonzalez out like that straight away," said Daley, who holds a 20-3 professional kickboxing record. "He's a tough, scrappy guy. Pro boxing experience; kickboxing experience, and a ton of MMA fights. It could be a very difficult fight. I'm just going to go in there and do what I have to do. I'm prepared well. I'm sure he's prepared well, so we will see what happens."

Daley, 32, was reminded the last time he spoke to MMAmania.com -- prior to his fight with Dennis Olson at Bellator 140 --he mentioned that it would be his last "Dennis Olson" type of fight, and that only fights against top opponents would be next.

The London native said you have to separate his kickboxing and MMA fights, with the latter being a path toward a title, and the former a means to stay active and give the fans a show. That is something he intends on doing on September 19th.

"Well this is kickboxing," he said. "This isn't MMA. My next MMA fights will most definitely be the higher-echelon fights. I've actually been asking for the champion. For me, this is a fun fight. Just a fight to keep busy. I'm going in there to win. I'm going in there to knock him out. But for me, this has no title implications as far as MMA. This should just be an entertaining fight. That's what I'm going to do, go in and entertain."

Bellator 142: "Dynamite 1" is going to be "massive," and "it's going to be a big production," says Daley, who hopes to be part of the next one as well.

"Oh, most definitely. If they keep doing this I want to be involved, whether it be a tournament, or kickboxing, I want to be involved in the event. It's a great idea from Scott. I'm happy to be part of the first one."

Daley also correctly predicted Andrey Koreshkov would defeat Douglas Lima to win the Bellator welterweight title in his last interview with MMAmania.com and is hoping to get the first crack at the new champion. Not only does he think he can defeat the Russian known as "Spartan," he believes he can finish him.

"I would love to take him on for the title," Daley said. "My next MMA bout I'd like to be for the championship belt. It was good to see him fight live and see his physicality. I thought he was much bigger than he was. I said he would be bigger than Lima, but he wasn't. He's not that big. He had a good game plan. He's a bit of a crafty fighter. But I think I have the right mentality and the right team around me and the right tactics to go out there and beat him and finish him."

First on the docket, however, is Gonzalez this Saturday night, and the 12-year veteran of the fight game has a message for the Spike TV audience watching him compete in kickboxing for the first time.

"Semtex will be Semtex, with four ounce gloves or 10 ounce gloves, I'm going to be knocking people out."