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From MMATorch.com UFC
Dana White cut Paul Daley from UFC and banned him for life last night following his post-fight cheap shot thrown as Josh Koscheck at UFC 113. On ESPN2's "MMA Live," the host announced that White said even if Daley becomes the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA outside of UFC, he will not bring him back. Daley punched Koscheck after the end of the third round of their co-main event in Montreal, Quebec at Molson Center. Daley knew he had lost on points after being completely dominated on the mat for three rounds. The two trash-talked before their fight, expressing disdain and dislike for one another. Daley was clearly upset with the way the fight went. Koscheck added some verbal Tobasco sauce to the humiliation Daley felt, admitting on "MMA Live" to rubbing it in with some trash-talking in the final minute of the fight. Daley, who was one punch away from becoming a coach on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter and then getting an automatic title shot against George St. Pierre, is now out of work and banned for life from UFC. The punch he threw wasn't a case of a fighter being wrapped up in the moment and not hearing the horn to end the round or being mid-swing before the bell. It wasn't a situation such as Dan Henderson throwing an extra punch at a knocked-out-cold opponent a second before the ref could step in to make it official. Koscheck ended the fight on top of Daley. The horn sounded. Koscheck got up. The ref stood between them. Daley maneuvered past the referee and punched Koscheck from behind. There was no ambiguity to his actions, and the punch came several seconds after the horn. Referee Dan Miragliotta even told Daley, "You've got to be kidding me" when he pulled him away and restrained him after the punch was thrown. Daley stood center-ring for the announcement that all three judges scored the fight 30-27. That was the last he was seen. No post-fight comments were sought by Joe Rogan. The announcers moved on from the incident, not dwelling long on it, and instead moving quickly to previewing the main event. (PPV time being tight could have been a factor, or Dana White might have indicated he didn't want Daley to get any extra attention on PPV, having decided to cut him pretty quickly.) Keller's Analysis Admirable move by Dana White. Not hasty, either. That post-fight punch deserved swift decisive action. I'm 100 percent for a lifetime suspension. Even if Daley had a great reputation as a great sportsman, that was beyond anything that should be allowed under any circumstances. White established firmly that your UFC career is over if you fight after the horn. He didn't want a circus situation like at the end of the Strikeforce event on CBS. Now the question is whether Strikeforce will hire Daley and push him as the bad-boy who was banned by UFC and try to capitalize on the "name value" Daley has coming out of this. Daley ruined his career with one moment of losing control of himself, but it's that kind of lack of control that is scary give how powerful and skilled he is. His hands are literally lethal weapons, and throwing them at a fighter with his guard down could have major major ramifications. Again, good for Dana White. For what it's worth, early results of our online poll are in line with White's decision, with the highest vote total going for the lifetime suspension option, and one year suspension in second place. Read Jamie Penick's report on this incident and his analysis of the lifetime suspension: CLICK HERE [Dana White photo credit Wade Keller (c) MMATorch] © Copyright by MMATorch.com |
