mma / News
Paul Daley Says He’s Not Worried About Rory MacDonald
In an interview with MMA Junkie, Paul Daley (39-14-2 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) spoke about his Bellato 179 fight with Rory MacDonald (18-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). It happens on May 19 at the SSE Arena in London. Here are highlights:
On not being intimidated by MacDonald: “Rory’s well rounded, and that’s about it. I don’t fear him in any way. I’ve fought all of the big, bad, tough, scary guys. Rory is nowhere up there with those guys. What makes Rory dangerous is just the fact that he’s well rounded, but sometimes that can also be a negative. He’s a big name, he seems game, and I truly believe that he’s in for a big shock. I think that everything he’s seen in footage, that he’s heard or he’s seen follow my long career, it’s nothing like the actual experience when you enter the cage with me.”
On fighting someone who hasn’t been finished a lot: “He hasn’t been finished in the past seven years, did you say? Didn’t he quit against Robbie Lawler? I’m pretty sure he quit that fight. He quit, yeah, so, that’s wrong. He quit the fight. He talks of being a warrior and all of this, but he quit in the fight. Due to a broken nose or not, if you’re a fighter you do not quit. I’m not worried about anything Rory has to bring. I don’t care (about) the statistics. He hasn’t fought me, and that is it. I fought guys who have never been knocked out, and if you look at their record I’m the guy who knocked them out. So it means nothing to me. I’m just there to fight.”
On how good MacDonald is: “I’m saying MacDonald among the top five, I hold Lima above Rory. I don’t think there’s a bigger, more athletic, scarier welterweight out there at the moment. And me and my team, we believe that we can defeat Douglas Lima over five rounds. So, not looking past Rory, but yeah, I want my shot at Lima. I feel like I’m more composed. (If) I don’t rush out in the first 30 seconds like I did last time, I think over five rounds I defeat Lima.”