Despite Bellator President Scott Coker’s best intentions, it appears Paul Daley vs. Melvin Manhoef will not happen.
Yesterday, Coker appeared on The MMA Hour and said that if Paul Daley and Melvin Manhoef can both win their next respective match-ups, a showdown between the pair was to be scheduled for later this year.
“Paul, pending his September 12th fight in London, if he’s okay, we’re going to be fighting him in November here in America,” Coker said. “I can tell you the fight I’d like to put together. We had a conversation with Melvin Manhoef about dropping down in weight, so I’d like to put Manhoef vs. Daley together. So if [Manhoef] doesn’t get hurt, Paul doesn’t get hurt, we’ll put that fight together.”
Apparently, Coker made the declaration without informing Paul Daley about the potential showdown. The welterweight took to Facebook yesterday to address a potential fight with Manhoef.
Bellator president Scott Coker, calling for Manhoef vs Daley….? ? ?…
As great as it would be one paper, this is a fight that will not be happening…for personal reasons, plus the more obvious reason of him being a former training partner, mentor, and someone I owe some of my training practises and methods too….
Happy that Bellator are looking to schedule me to fight in November, but I would not even consider this fight…..
Manhoef (28-11-1, 1 NC) is currently scheduled to fight Doug Marshall on September 19th at Bellator 125 in his promotional debut, while Daley (34-13-2) is expected to challenge Igor Fernandes on September 12 at BAMMA 16. That bout will fulfill the last fight of Daley’s BAMMA contract.
