Bellator 179's Paul Daley questions Rory MacDonald's 'warrior' label: Didn't he quit vs. Robbie Lawler?

It started cordially enough, but it seems Paul Daley is done playing nice with fellow Bellator 179 headliner Rory MacDonald.

After a somewhat friendly press conference in February, in which Daley had mostly praise toward the former UFC title challenger, the tone has changed a bit. Yes, Daley (39-14-2 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) ranks MacDonald (18-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) among the top-five welterweights in the world. And, yes, he does think a win over the Canadian contender would be his biggest to date.

But when it comes to what MacDonald has to offer when they step into the cage May 19 at London’s SSE Arena, Daley is not intimidated.

“Rory’s well rounded, and that’s about it,” Daley said today during a conference call. “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.”

Daley comes into the Spike-televised bout off a huge knockout win over Brennan Ward at Bellator 170 in January. Meanwhile, MacDonald, ranked No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, looks to snap his first two-fight skid after an almost year-long layoff.

Daley, who’ll be the one to welcome MacDonald to the Bellator cage, poked his opponent a little further when asked about his feelings on fighting someone “who’d only been finished by two people” before.

“He hasn’t been finished in the past seven years, did you say?” Daley inquired mockingly. “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.”

Prompted to give his own take on what happened in 2015’s UFC 198 headlining war with then-champ Lawler, which was stopped in the fifth round by referee John McCarthy, MacDonald didn’t seem particularly fazed.

“I definitely was pushed to my breaking point in that fight,” MacDonald said. “I definitely had to go down, but there was no way I was tapping out or telling the ref to call the fight. I just, at that point, I was done on my feet, and I had to take a knee, and the reft stepped in. But I think if he thinks I’m an easy-to-quit kind of fighter, I think he’s in for a rude awakening.”

Bellator President Scott Coker, also present on the call, confirmed that the winner of the welterweight matchup will be given a chance to face the victor of a title appointment between champ Douglas Lima and Lorenz Larkin, set for June 24’s “Bellator: NYC.”

That could be a double win for Daley. Along with a title shot, he could also get a chance to avenge a Bellator 158 decision loss to Lima. Inquired about that, Daley expressed both interest and confidence that he can come out victorious.

“I’m saying MacDonald among the top five, I hold Lima above Rory,” Daley said. “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.”