After an ill-fated attempt at making a rematch with Josh Koscheck, Bellator MMA welterweight Paul Daley is ready to move on.
"I've been on his Facebook page and his Dethrone [Facebook] page and called him all profanities that you'd expect," Daley, who lost to Koscheck in 2010, told ESPN.com. "To fight me was like a golden opportunity for him and he missed the opportunity a few times now. I'm not looking to present him with another opportunity."
After Koscheck withdrew from their rematch in June due to injury, Daley (38-13-2) now has his focus set on Douglas Lima (26-6). The two will meet in the main event of Saturday's Bellator 158 card at London's O2 Arena (Spike TV, ESPN Deportes, 9 p.m. ET) with a welterweight title shot in the balance.
The event has faced a multitude of changes, most notably due to the June 6 death of Kimbo Slice, who had agreed to a rematch against James Thompson in the headliner. Regarding Slice, Daley said, "I'm privileged to take his place as the main event here in London."
Daley, 33, enters the bout on a five-fight win streak, including a first-round knockout of Andy Uhrich in January. He said a title shot, should he defeat Lima, was something he asked for and was agreed to with "someone who has a position of power in Bellator."
"Lima is an opponent that I picked," said Daley. "He's the toughest guy, he's a former champion, so I am excited to get such a motivated fight against a dangerous opponent."
A native of Brazil, Lima was bumped from a matchup with Chidi Njokuani at last month's Bellator 156 for this bout, his first since dropping the welterweight title to Andrey Koreshkov last July via unanimous decision.
The opponent switch creates what could be a high-octane bout with the potential for an explosive finish. Daley, a British kickboxer, has recorded knockouts in 28 of his 38 career wins, while Lima, 28, has finished 23 of his 26 victories. Despite the credentials, Daley says that Lima isn't "on my level," and he is very confident heading into the fight.
"The only thing that raises his level is that he was the former champion," said Daley. "We really believe that this is going to be a fight where we do a bit of a Conor McGregor-Nate Diaz and we're at the end saying, 'I'm not surprised m-----f------.'"
Having won nine of his last 10, including eight by stoppage, Daley is predicting he'll win by knockout on Saturday. For his training camp, he has sparred with several British pro boxers and worked on his wrestling with the Polish Olympic team, taking part in what he calls "mini camps" to get prepared for each test. The results, he believes, will be a well-rounded fighter who is more mature inside the cage.
"I think he's still a little bit too sure of himself," Daley said. "You may say that about me, but the way I'm humbly putting it is I'm just a little bit faster than he thinks. I'm a little bit stronger than he thinks and my fight IQ is a little bit higher than he thinks."
Daley and Koscheck met at UFC 113 in May 2010, with Koscheck winning by unanimous decision. After the final bell, Daley hit Koscheck in the face, which resulted in Daley's release from the company later that night in Montreal. But the fortunes of each fighter changed from that point, with Koscheck finishing his UFC run with a 2-6 mark and Daley amassing a 14-4 record outside of the Octagon.
Koscheck, a veteran of 25 fights in the Octagon, lost his last five UFC bout and signed with Bellator last June. His debut was scheduled for January at Bellator 148 in his hometown of Fresno, California, against Matt Secor but he pulled out with an undisclosed injury. This elevated Daley to the main event, with "Semtex" quickly dispatching Uhrich just two minutes in with an explosive uppercut, launching a chorus of boos from the partisan crowd.
After Daley called his rival out (referring to him as "Crotch Check"), the rematch was set for London until Koscheck was forced to pull out once again with an undisclosed injury. Daley isn't buying it and claims he was expecting it to happen.
"He didn't realize I was so invested in whooping his ass," said Daley. "This was a fight where I intended to put severe beats on him and I think he got that sense, and he didn't have the same motivation or the same energy and sometimes you need that."
For a combatant who has 53 pro bouts, Saturday will hold a special significance for Daley. It will be his first fight in his native land in nearly two years. For someone who is normally booed loudly in America, especially where Koscheck is supported, Daley is expected to get a rousing ovation from the home crowd. He compared it to his UFC New Year's card appearance in Las Vegas, a first-round knockout of Dustin Hazelett in the co-main event on UFC 108.
"This one could top that being that it's in the UK and I'm going to actually have the supporters with me," said Daley. "It'll be up there [and] maybe even surpass the MGM Grand. I'm really looking forward to having the home crowd on such a large scale being behind me."
