Paul “Semtex” Daley and Michael “Venom” Page are two of England’s premier mixed martial artists. A fight between the two was targeted for Saturday’s Bellator 179 fight cad in London, but negotiations fell apart when Daley declined the bout. Page was lined up against Derek Anderson, but was forced off the fight card due to a knee injury.
Page was in attendance at the event, sitting front row. After Daley’s loss to Rory MacDonald in the main event, he hurled insults at Page during his post-fight interview. As he exited the cage, he and Page had a physical altercation.
Bellator MMA president Scott Coker reacted to the scuffle following the event at SSE Arena. He was unsure whether Daley or Page would face disciplinary action for the incident, but was eager to book a grudge match between the two.
“I think it stemmed from something that (Daley) was saying during the post-fight interview that led to the whole thing,” said Coker. “There’s a lot of heat between those guys, and there’s some animosity there. It’s unfortunate because we have to keep this thing professional. Never do we want to have something like that happen at one of our events. It’s a lot more personal than I originally thought it was.”
“We’re definitely going to go back and take a look at the video,” he added.
With the fight nearly being booked once and the built in story line, Coker believes a bout between “Semtex” and the undefeated “MVP” makes perfect sense.
“I think that’s a fight that people want to see. I think it’s a fight both those guys want to see. If they want to throw it down, we’ll put it together,” said the Bellator president. “If they both tell me they want to do it, we’re going to do it.”
