Paul Daley denies ‘bitter’ Bellator claim that he’s ducking Michael ‘Venom’ Page

Out of all the obvious fights that should be going down in Bellator but aren’t, Paul Daley vs. Michael “Venom” Page certainly seems the most obvious. Just like Wanderlei vs. “Rampage” 4 in Brazil makes perfect sense, so does Daley vs. “Venom” in London.

Unfortunately for Bellator, Paul Daley seems strangely reluctant to actually sign on the dotted line for that particular fight. We’re sure they would have loved to do it for Bellator 200 in London, but instead “Venom” is facing David Rickels at the May event.

MMANYTT asked Bellator president Scott Coker why Page’s opponent wasn’t Daley.

“I think that’s something you should ask Paul Daley,” Coker told them. “He’s the one that said he wanted to fight him, called him out and then he changed his mind. Maybe he will change his mind again, but we’re always going to ask I can assure you.”

That relatively diplomatic comment elicited a strong response from Daley, who shared his thoughts with MMA Junkie.

“Scott has his opinion; it’s his view. He’s bitter,” Daley responded in a text message to MMAjunkie. “He just wanted the Page fight on his timing. They didn’t want to give me the Fitch fight. I forced their hand, no matter how much they try to deny it.

“I’ve asked for both contracts at the same time. (I’ll) sign both. I have the Fitch contract. We just got to negotiate the Page contract, and I will sign that too.”

That’s right, for some reason Daley really pushed for his Bellator 199 match against legendary wrassle blanket Jon Fitch. We don’t quite get it ... maybe he wants to show that he can handle the kind of ground game that used to be his kryptonite earlier on in his career? Whatever the case, he wanted Fitch first and maybe if Scott Coker hops on one foot and faxes the contract during a full moon, Daley will eventually sign on to fight Michael Page too. Maybe.