Paul Daley is back on the idea of a rematch with Michael Page after Bellator Europe 6.
After their first fight ended in a lackluster decision for Page (16-1 MMA, 12-1 BMMA) that didn’t live up to the pre-fight animosity, Daley (42-17-2 MMA, 8-4 BMMA) was keen to run it back, as he felt he deserved the nod that night at Bellator 216 in February. Not long after, though, “Semtex” changed his tune.
Daley was so disappointed with the way the fight unfolded and how fans were let down, that he didn’t want to do it again. Months have passed, and both men have since picked up wins, though, and the time could be right to put it together.
And with Page fresh off his first-round knockout victory over Giovanni Melillo in Saturday’s headliner at The SSE Arena, Wembley in London, Daley pitched the possibility of a rematch, but this time he wants it in his native England.
“He couldn’t do what he normally does to everybody else (when we fought),” Daley said on the Bellator Europe 6 broadcast. “In my mind I thought I won that fight. The only way to make it more convincing to everybody else is to take him out before the judges. If that fight is going to happen it needs to be a big fight. It needs to happen here in 2020, at Wembley in 2020.”
Although he was frustrated over the outcome of the first fight, Daley admits much of the blame falls on him. He did not engage in the stand-up war that was promised, but with the matchup taking place within the confines of the $1 million welterweight grand prix, he said strategy was priority.
“I approached that fight with the intention to win,” Daley said. “I kind of led people down the wrong path thinking it was going to be this brutal bloodbath when I knew I could beat him comfortably on the ground.”
It remains to be seen if Bellator would be interested in booking a Daley-Page rematch. Given the level of competition Page has seen through his career, Daley said he has his doubts.
“This is ridiculous,” Daley said after the fight. “You can’t continually beat these kind of opponents. Yes, he knocks them out, but he’s expected to knock them out. What does this prove, the fact that he knocked out a guy nobody will remember? It proves nothing. It proves nothing at all. Why didn’t he do that to me? Why didn’t he do that to Douglas Lima? Because he’s not of that caliber.
“I need to see more from Michael Page, in my opinion, whether it’s a rematch with me or a rematch with another top-tier fighter. Does a win over this guy warrant a title shot? In my opinion it doesn’t. Yes, he’s a star. Yes, people love him. But can he really fight? The two times he’s stepped up, on paper, he’s got a ‘victory’ over me. Most people, including me, thought he lost that fight. Second time he stepped up against the champion, who I went three rounds with, he gets knocked out cold. So he needs to fight solid opponents instead of feeding him these guys.”
The Page rematch is on his radar after Bellator Europe 6, but Daley said he has his sights set on something even bigger. If given the option, he’d much rather rematch current champion Douglas Lima, who beat him by unanimous decision at Bellator 158 in July 2016.
“I think Douglas Lima is the more exciting fight for me,” Daley said. “We went three rounds, and now he’s the welterweight champion again, the grand prix champion, and one of the very best fighters in the world.
“If they give me the contract, and it’s the right contract (for Page), we don’t need the hype, we don’t need nothing. Let’s just fight. I know I’m better than him. I know I won the first time, and I can do it again. Do I hate the guy? All animosity? No. I just want to prove I’m better and that he’s not of the caliber that everybody thinks he his.”
'This is ridiculous': Paul Daley rips Michael Page's matchmaking after Bellator Europe 6 win
