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When Paul Daley first started to garner international recognition, the MMA landscape was barely recognizable to a newer fan watching the sport today. More than anywhere else, Daley established his name in Cage Rage, a promotion that couldn’t exist in the form it did today and couldn’t even have existed in that form if it came along five years later. Cage Rage was a British promotion with little international exposure but that was known to hardcore fans because it brought in major names during a period you could still do that on the cheap if you were popular in the local market. That allowed a young Daley to share the stage with the likes of Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort, Matt Lindland, Murilo “Ninja” Rua and David “Tank” Abbott.
At the time, no one thought Daley was a world beater but he was a marketable commodity: a fun striker with a great nickname and the gift of gab. That got him booked on the mid-level staples of the day: Strikeforce, King of the Cage, MFC and the like. When the ill-fated Pro Elite promotion purchased Cage Rage, he was a natural for EliteXC and that got him his biggest career break fighting in front of 4.5 million viewers on CBS. A year later he was fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, by that time the unquestioned biggest stage for MMA.
Following a pair of explosive knockout wins over Martin Kampmann and Dustin Hazelett, it looked like Daley was going to be a UFC staple for years to come. Then of course came the infamous Josh Koscheck bout in Montreal. Koscheck outwrestled him for three rounds in a title eliminator, a frustrated Daley took a swing at Koscheck after the fight concluded and Dana White vowed Daley would never fight in the UFC again. Indeed, “Semtex” never did.
To let Daley go for his indiscretion seemed reasonable. Fighters really shouldn’t be swinging at each other outside the context of a sanctioned bout. To make a point of the notion that Daley would never be allowed in the UFC again felt overboard but was fitting with White’s often over-the-top style. It’s certainly a stance that hasn’t aged well given what we’ve seen since then from Conor McGregor, Jorge Masvidal and others. Of course, Daley wasn’t exactly knocking on the UFC’s door every six months asking White to reconsider.
Under different circumstances, it’s not hard to imagine that as Daley won what was billed as his final fight on Friday—you never know with combat sports and retirements—it would be a time to look back with that decision 12 years ago with regret about what could have been. After all, he had worked his way up the ladder to the top promotion in the sport only to be kicked out forever three fights later.
Nobody is thinking that way, however, and it’s a testament to what Daley accomplished over the course of his career. Since leaving UFC with a 23-9-2 record, he scored another 21 wins, equaling his pre-UFC total. Only four of the UFC’s current 11 champions have scored more over the entirety of their careers. He has been consistently effective and consistently entertaining, from his countless explosive knockouts to his classic showdown with Nick Diaz in San Diego. He didn’t need the UFC and so he never looked back.
He also appeared to learn from the incident with Koscheck. While Koscheck’s personality and trash talk clearly played a role in Daley’s cheap shot, ultimately Daley was frustrated in his inability to stop Koscheck’s takedowns. Many a striker over the years has lashed out at opponents for implementing wrestling-centric game plans, as if that isn’t a major part of the sport. Daley instead accepted that as part of the game, doing his best to finish opponents with his striking but giving them their props when they were able to beat him with their ground game.
Friday’s fight exemplified what Daley was always about. Wendell Giacomo had success with his wrestling and appeared like he might be on his way to sending Daley off with a loss. Daley as always only needed the smallest of openings and when the fight returned to the feet late in the second round, he negated everything that had come before with a brutal knockout punch. That type of finishing ability infuses drama into every second of a fight. It made Paul Daley a fun fighter to watch and made for a memorable career that charted its own unique course.