A new interview has emerged of Paul Daley talking about his loss to Nick Diaz just hours after the fight took place.
In the conversation with FightHubTV Daley admitted that he felt the fight was stopped earlier than it should have been.
“I feel that the fight was stopped a little early, with three seconds left in a championship fight, he could have let it go to a second round…but it’s too late now,” Daley said.
Perhaps the reason referee John McCarthy called a halt to the contest was due to the awkward way in which Daley fell after a frenzied exchange with Diaz in the closing stages of the round.
It certainly looked like Daley was rocked, but he doesn’t appear to be willing to concede that on camera…or at least not in so many words.
“I slipped, but the slip was an effect of one of the earlier punches, you know. I still hadn’t fully recovered, so I tried to find my footing and I slipped, which is why it looked so bad to John McCarthy.”
Daley also reveals that he didn’t fight the way he had planned to, and instead was drawn into the heat of the battle.
“We just envisioned not getting into a fight – kicking a lot more, moving a lot more, but after the initial knockdown I think I got a little bit excited [and] dived in for the finish. From then I knew I had the power to at least drop him, so I thought, ‘go for broke and try to get him out in one round’, which was a little bit stupid, but sh*t happens.”
After the recent takeover of Strikeforce by Zuffa, Daley looked to be in a precarious position having already been banished from the UFC last year, and then threatening to pull out of the Diaz fight due to his relationship with the new owners.
It seems that he’s now had time to cool off though, and is even entertaining the possibility of a return to the UFC if he is able to patch things up with UFC President Dana White.
“I want to fight again, here at Strikeforce or the UFC. Whatever Zuffa want to do with me I’m prepared to fight again.”
He’s also not given up hope of one day fighting again for the title.
“I want to take some time off, but I want to fight before the end of summer, get back on a winning streak, build up to another title shot. I’m one who believes that people shouldn’t have too many title shots, but I’m going to work towards at least one more before I call it a day.”
Watch the full interview with Daley below.
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