New Paul "SEMTEX" Daley Interview on UFC ARRIVAL

Underground
1

 

Exclusive Interview with Paul “Semtex” Daley


Posted by Dallas Winston | Exclusive Interviews, UFC | Tuesday 25 August 2009 11:53 am


Paul SEMTEX Daley copy


DW:  “Mr. Daley, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview, and congratulations on your hard-earned and well-deserved opportunity in the UFC.  Your first opponent is Brian Foster out of Matt Hughes ‘HIT Squad’.  What do you know about Foster, and will you alter your usual game plan?” 



PD:  “He’s a tough striker with an all round game and heavy hands.  I will train very hard at all areas of my game and I’m intent on making an explosive UFC debut.”



 DW:  “I feel with your dangerous and exciting stand-up style that there are several extremely entertaining match-ups for you in the welterweight division:  Thiago Alves, Mike Swick, Martin Kampmann, Carlos Condit, Chris Lytle, and now newcomer Phil Baroni.  Is there anyone on that list in particular that you would prefer to fight?”



 PD:  “I just want to fight and fight whoever the UFC puts in front of me.  I feel I can get in there and beat any of the above names.  I have no vendettas… yet!” (Paul says this with a hearty and devious laugh), “So I’ll just fight whoever.”



DW:  “In the UFC, there is a lot of pressure to win.  They often say they reward exciting fights even in a loss, but regardless, if you lose two in a row, the need for a win becomes absolute.  Are you planning on going out there and putting on an exciting fight (like you always do), or are you focusing more on the result now that you’re in the big show?  Will you implement more caution into your strategy because of this?”



PD:  “Freedom, and fight without thought!  (Well, not too much.)  I’m just gonna go out there, come forward and try to finish fights, win or lose I will always do this- this is my style.  I finish fights!”



  DW:  “The UFC has forced training partners to fight before.  As a fan, I highly disagree with it, but I can force myself to understand that point-of-view from a business perspective.  As a fighter, what would your thoughts be if asked to face your friend and training partner Dan Hardy?”



 PD:  “I wouldn’t fight Dan as a choice based on my morals.  We are on two completely different paths anyway, he’s three victories into the UFC, and I ain’t even started!”



DW:  “You’ve listed GSP as one of your idols in the sport.  How does it feel to be competing in the same division as him, looking to earn your way towards a shot at his belt?” 



PD:  “Feels great, but I’ve felt I’m always competing against him, because he’s

 

(more…)


2

 Where's the Semtex fans?


3

right here daddy

4

"and now newcomer Phil Baroni"

You mean oldcomer?

5

Daley will win a few gimme fights, but will ultimately lose against anyone with good wrestling & a good ground game. He's exciting to watch, so I don't think Zuffa is worried if he wins or loses.

6

JOB - "and now newcomer Phil Baroni"



You mean oldcomer?


 new⋅com⋅er  interfaceflash.addParam('wmode','transparent');interfaceflash.write();
























 [noo-kuhm-er, nyoo-] Show IPA

 

Use newcomer in a Sentence



–noun






a person or thing that has recently arrived; new arrival







 

7

JOB - Daley will win a few gimme fights, but will ultimately lose against anyone with good wrestling & a good ground game. He's exciting to watch, so I don't think Zuffa is worried if he wins or loses.


I don't think the match-ups I cited as exciting in the article would be "gimme fights" by any means.


8

This is great. Paul was part of the demo for MMA in London pre-UFC 38... it's only taken him something like 6 years from there to get to actually fight in the UFC!

9

Uncle Justice - 
I don't think the match-ups I cited as exciting in the article would be "gimme fights" by any means.



They would be gimme fights for Semtex.

As long as none of those jerks try to take him down or anything.

10

Crooklyn - I fucking love Paul.  He is going to shake shit up in the UFC.  So excited to see him fight.



 Agreed.



There's really not much to dislike about Paul, both as a fighter and a person.


11

D_S_A - 



...As long as none of those jerks try to take him down or anything.


 If they did, it would be nothing short of rude and uncouth.


12

I'm a fan. He throws down and he has natural ability that can't be taught. If he had a high level wrestler to train with - he could get really good really fast.

13

Heartbroken Lee - Imo, nobody can stand with Daley for 3 rounds in the WW division of the UFC and not get knocked out. Of course, this isn't K-1. There are plenty of good wrestlers in the division who will give Daley problems, but it's a mistake to think he doesn't know how to stop a takedown. He had Jake Shields on his last legs when they fought and Jake is a top 5 WW.



It's going to be exciting to see how his run in the UFC goes down...



 As a Daley fan, I think that's a very bold statement.  For example, Chris Lytle, who may not even be amongst the top echelon at 170, has one of the best chins in the game, and Condit has never lost to strikes either.  Kampmann also has a pretty good chin, and even Swick only has the Leben hail mary for a TKO.



Alves also has a great chin, and even arguably one of the more technical and complete striking games compared to Paul. 



But, again, to me the most important aspect is how appealing and exciting all of those fights would be.

14

 He's the Manhoef of the WW division.

15

Heartbroken Lee - In all honestly, I think Alves' striking game is a little overrated, partly because of the UFC hype machine that built him up going into the GSP fight. He's had some very impressive KO's - against Hughes and Karo - but those guys aren't great strikers (esp. Hughes). Daley on the other hand has KO'd plenty of top strikers: Bang Ludwig, Weir, Foupa-Pokam - and he's only got better since then, training at Mike's with Manhoef et al.



Now, Condit and especially Swick pose a lot more problems, but I can definitely see Daley catching one of them and finishing them off on the ground.



I think somebody like Fitch would be the biggest obstacle to a title shot - a grinder who can eek out a decision. Or someone like Hazelett who can submit anybody.





 Alves may have an overhyped striking game, but he's legit.  That would be an awesome fight, but Thiago is a bit heavier.  I believe Paul made 162 lbs for the Azeredo fight.



Condit and Swick would have a height and reach advantage on him, and the more accomplished ground game.  Kos, Fitch, Trigg would be the wrestlers representing nightmare match-ups, and Hazelett (and now Almeida) are the only sub threats at WW.



None of those guys have the grappling or sub credentials that Shields does though, and many seem to use Semtex's fight with Shields as a negative example of how he will do in the UFC.

16

 ^He'd be a beast at 55 for sure, but I also believe he said it would be a brutal cut.



I agree that Shields/Daley is a testament to Paul's toughness and resilience.


17

Exciting times :)

18

Daley is an animal. can't wait to see him in there.

he has a good reach, which will be helpful for fights like Kampmann, Alves, Karo, etc.

I think the only guys I can't see him beating are GSP, Koscheck and Anthony Johnson. yes I know, Kos got dropped by Paulo Thiago. Fitch will be a tough fight too cause Fitch has good length.