Strikeforce: Paul Daley Feels Like Scott Coker Sold Out

Daley: Scott Coker “sold out” with Strikeforce sale

Paul Daley may not be utilizing his traditional trash-talk routine against his upcoming opponent, welterweight champion Nick Diaz, but that does not mean he is keeping quiet with his opinions.

While the normally brash welterweight usually tries to get under the skin of his opponent (Josh Koscheck, for instance), he has stepped away from that type of pre-fight hype and has instead voiced his criticism of Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker regarding the sale of the promotion to the UFC just recently.

Paul Daley

“I felt like Scott Coker sold out,” Daley told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani earlier this week. “He emailed me, and I responded along those lines, I told him the same thing. But having spoken to a few people and having thought about it, it’s what it is. It’s what it is. I have to fight because I agreed to fight. I signed the contract, so it’s what it is.”

Daley may understand to some point why the sale was made, but he could not have been happy hearing the news of the sale, especially considering his well-known fallout with the UFC and its president Dana White, who stated following “Semtex’s” post-fight sucker punch against Koscheck last year that the British striker would never again fight under the UFC banner.

But the heavy-handed fighter did not specify that the sale made him upset for any reason related to that unfortunate incident. Rather, he is concerned that the sport of MMA will become known simply as the UFC.

“I said to him, basically, ‘I’m a fan of the martial arts and I don’t want this form of martial arts, or this form of martial competition to be referred to as the UFC when, in fact, it’s a mixture of martial arts.’ I think mixed martial arts is more representative of what we’re actually doing.”

Daley has never been one to remain quiet regarding any issue, whether controversial or not. But now that Zuffa, LLC has taken control of Strikeforce, he finds himself in a dangerous spot, considering his aforementioned history with the UFC.

That will likely not stop Daley from working the mic as he has done in the past, especially considering his style of fighting and ability to hype contests. Still, if the controversial welterweight wants to keep fighting in the biggest promotions, a change of style outside the cage might not be a bad idea.