HYDEN BLOG: Paul Daley, Michael Bisping, and the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix

By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

Paul Daley is now set to challenge Nick Diaz for the Strikeforce Welterweight title on April 9. Daley certainly has the power to knock Diaz out, but that's only if Diaz decides to stand and trade with him. That would be the least advisable strategy for Diaz, so I think he'll look to take the fight to the ground early. If Diaz boxes with Daley it'll be entertaining, but there also would be a good chance of Daley scoring the knockout. I think Diaz wins this by submission in the second round.

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It's time for both Jorge Rivera and Michael Bisping's camp to shut up. I wasn't a fan of all of Michael Bisping's antics over the weekend, but Rivera started it with all the crap in his videos in the lead-up to the fight. Bisping was right in that the videos were racist, but then Bisping loses the high ground when he used a homophobic slur in a response. Regardless of whether the illegal knee was intentional or not, Rivera was overmatched by Bisping in that fight and it likely would have ended the same way without the knee. I know Rivera was just trying to hype the fight ahead of time, but he went too far.

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B.J. Penn and Jon Fitch fought to a majority draw last weekend. Watching it, it appeared to me as though Fitch won, but it wasn't a dominating performance. The third round was all Fitch, but the first round was Penn and the second round was very close, though I gave it to Fitch. This didn't really solve much, but I guess they can rematch and go for the Welterweight Title if Georges St. Pierre vacates the belt. If Jake Shields beats GSP, a fight with either Penn or Fitch would be interesting. I think Fitch is a better wrestler than Shields, but Shields is better at submissions. I think a motivated B.J. could handle Shields and beat him by submission. Fitch vs. Shields would probably go to decision, but I think B.J. would have Shields beat by the third round.

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I think it's incredibly dumb for Strikeforce to delay the Heavyweight Grand Prix. Strikeforce is running in California April 9, and that means that Josh Barnett can't fight Brett Rogers that night because Barnett won't get licensed. The remaining first round matchup is Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum. June 18 in Texas is the date for the final two fights in the Grand Prix quarterfinals. That means that Antonio Silva, who beat Fedor Emelianenko, and Sergei Kharitonov, who beat Andrei Arlovski, will have to wait even longer before they get to fight in the second round. I don't want to run down Strikeforce too much, but this just speaks to poor planning on their part. They should have had all this stuff squared away before having the Grand Prix begin. I know you have to be flexible in business, but this is a big deal for them. It was certainly generating fan interest. If you have an extra two month delay, that's going to cause big problems.

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I don't want to waste any time talking about anything Chael Sonnen does or says, especially when he's currently on the sidelines. I don't care what he has to say. That said, I would definitely be interested in seeing Sonnen fight Michael Bisping. Without question, I would be openly rooting for Bisping, as I believe Sonnen, while a good fighter, isn't a good human being. Half the fun of Sonnen losing is seeing him make excuses or outright lie about what really happened. I think Bisping could, and would, beat Sonnen if they fought. I also think the UFC would be smart to make such a fight.

Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com

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