Paul Daley would only come out of retirement for two fights.
The legendary British slugger recently called time on his MMA career after signing off with a knockout win over Wendell Giácomo at Bellator 281 this past weekend.
As a result, the former Strikeforce and UFC welterweight retired with a 44-18-2 record at the age of 39.
However, there are two fights that would get Daley to consider coming out of retirement, and those are rematches with Jorge Masvidal and Nick Diaz.
“I don’t wish I can get back any fight in terms of changing what already happened,” Daley said on The MMA Hour (via BJ Penn). “But, I think if I was to pick a fight to have a rematch, it would definitely be Nick Diaz or [Jorge] Masvidal. Because they’re the ones that have turned into pay-per-view stars and I could get the most money from.”
“Nick Diaz was a great fight and I beat Masvidal, and he holds the BMF belt, even though he’s lost his last fight or so. Those are the ones that if someone came to me and said, ‘What’s going to get you out of retirement?’, those two fights. That’s it, those are the only two fights that would pull me out.”
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Paul Daley vs. Nick Diaz II Makes Sense
Daley notably outpointed Masvidal at a Shark Fights event back in 2010.
He would get TKO’d by Diaz a year later at Strikeforce in what is regarded as one of the greatest one-round fights in MMA history.
While a fight with Masvidal seems unlikely and wouldn’t make much sense given the former’s aspirations of earning the UFC welterweight title, a rematch with Diaz certainly makes sense.
Diaz returned to action for the first time since January 2015 when he suffered a TKO defeat to Robbie Lawler last September.
Whether it could happen, remains to be seen, especially since Diaz still remains under contract with the UFC while Daley is still blacklisted by the promotion.
You can watch their epic one-round fight below:
