Strikeforce Fedor vs. Henderson: Will Paul Daley Ever Fight in the UFC Again?

On May 8th, 2010, at UFC 113, one of the worst cheap shots in the history of MMA occurred.

In the co-main event, Josh Koscheck and Paul Daley fought for the No. 1 contender spot, and a chance to coach on The Ultimate Fighter opposite Georges St-Pierre.

During the fight, Daley landed a knee that, upon first glance, appeared to land illegally, although replays showed that it hit Koscheck in the shoulder, and he hammed it up. In addition to the "illegal knee" Daley later said that Koscheck was talking to him the entire time, which Koscheck did not deny.

So after the bell rang in the third round, Koscheck had clearly won the fight, by using his wrestling to control Daley.

Koscheck got up and began to walk away from Daley. However, Daley followed Koscheck, in what most expected to be him looking for a handshake or a hug, or some sort of congratulations on the fight.

However, Daley loaded up a big left hand, and connected with Koscheck's face.

After that, he was cut from the UFC almost immediately by Dana White, stating "he's done, I don't give a s*** if he's the best 170-pounder in the world, he'll never come back here again" adding "there's no excuse for that... you don't ever hit a guy blatantly after the bell like that... it was probably one of the dumbest things I've ever seen."

So Daley went out and got a fight two months after with Impact FC, then another two months later, a fight in Shark Fights (which he missed weight for), and he then signed with the Strikeforce promotion.

He defeated Scott Smith by knockout (knockout of the year in fact), and then in BAMMA  he defeated Yuya Shirai via first round knockout.

Then things got complicated, as ZUFFA purchased Strikeforce, and therefore, all the fighters under contract with Strikeforce.

Paul Daley immediately started talking about how maybe he wouldn't want to fight for ZUFFA and make Dana White, and the company that cut him, a lot of money.

All the talk subsided, and he went on to get his Strikeforce title shot against Nick Diaz, which he lost in one of the most entertaining rounds in recent memory.

But now that ZUFFA owns the UFC and Strikeforce, one would have to assume that they won't run as separate entities forever. Or at the very least, that the best fighters from Strikeforce wouldn't come to the UFC at some point.

Which brings me to the point of the article. Paul Daley is one of the best fighters that Strikeforce has, but will he, someday, fight in the UFC again? 

In a word, yes

Yes, what he did was idiotic, unsportsmanlike, and pretty much uncalled for, but Dana White has not always been as true to his word about things as one may think.

Remember when EA announced that they would be doing an MMA video game, and Dana said that "if you do business with EA, you won't be in the UFC."

How'd that work out for Randy Couture, Vladimir Matyushenko, Mayhem Miller, Jake Shields and Nick Diaz?

They all came to the UFC under different circumstances or for one reason or the other.

It is just a testament to show how things can change.

And yes, I understand that Paul Daley punching someone after the bell and a few guys appearing in a video game are different.

And Dana White can shout and moan all about Paul Daley, and he could talk all the smack he wants about him.

But when the time comes that the Strikeforce fighters join the UFC, Paul Daley will be in that bunch.

Dana won't be happy about it, and he'll make it known, but he has always given the fans what they want, and the fans will want, and do want, Paul Daley.

Paul Daley (27-10-2) takes on Tyron Woodley (8-0) on July 30, at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson.