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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Paul Daley now has an opponent for his headlining bout on the upcoming BAMMA 5 card, as Fighter's Only reports that he will meet DEEP Welterweight Champion Yuya Shirai on the card.
It was reported on Thursday that Daley would headline the card with permission from Strikeforce, and that he'll then face the winner of the upcoming Strikeforce Welterweight Championship bout between Nick Diaz and Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos upon his return.
The former UFC welterweight made his Strikeforce debut in December, knocking Scott Smith out cold in the first round of their bout. He'll look to make it three straight wins since his release from the UFC when he faces Shirai.
The DEEP Welterweight Champion is 8-1 over his last nine fights, and holds a 20-8 record overall. His only loss in since 2008 was a submission loss to one-time UFC welterweight Jason High in the DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix.
Penick's Analysis: Daley represents a huge step up in competition for Shirai from what he's faced thus far in Japan, but at the same time he's not simply a can for Daley to blast through to keep himself busy. Shirai should be competitive in the fight, though I'd expect Daley to still get the win. This is going to be a very pro-Daley crowd in the UK, but this is an interesting matchup and should be a good fight for the fans.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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