Dawn of a new Daley

Paul (Semtex) Daley guaranteed on a conference call last week that he was going to make weight for his big return to Montreal’s Bell Centre Friday.

He made good on that promise Thursday -- the former UFC welterweight, who has missed weight four times since the beginning of 2010, was a permissible 170.4 pounds for his main event bout against Luigi Fioravanti (who weighed the same) at Ringside MMA 12.

It was apparently quite the feat however. According to a public training video at the famed Tristar gym in Montreal, Daley needed to cut 40 pounds the final day (although that figure may have been exaggerated just a little bit.) The brash British brawler was in full-on self-deprecating humour mode with the media, even suggesting he “may have to cut something off” his body to make weight.

But when the time finally came for him to step on the scale Thursday afternoon, he did manage to be within the one-pound grace for 170-pound non-title fights (although one onlooker thought he looked a little worse for wear from the cut).

Being on target was a good thing, considering the constant troubles Daley’s had in the weigh-cutting department, which has not only cost him in his purses (10 per cent a pop) but also potentially a belt -- a fight earlier this year was changed to a non-title bout after he came in overweight; he ended up winning by first-round knockout.

Hanging out and training with the guys at Georges St-Pierre’s home gym, including trainer Firas Zahabi and Alex Garcia, who takes on Halifax’s Matt MacGrath on the card, must have helped his motivation this week.

The dangerous striker also credited his recent week-long training in Amsterdam -- a place he’s been going about a half a dozen times a year for the past four years -- with getting his butt in gear.

“There hasn’t been a time that I trained in Amsterdam and not made weight. They’re pretty hard on me out (there). They don’t take no prisoners,” Daley said. “They don’t have any favouritism. They don’t care who I am, I just (needed) to make weight.”

Of course, the especially noteworthy aspect of Friday’s headliner for the Montreal-based promotion’s show is it will be Daley’s first time back to the scene of the most regrettable swing he’s ever taken -- the infamous sucker-punch uppercut hurled at the pesky Josh Koscheck well after the final bell following a three-round unanimous decision loss at UFC 113 on May 8, 2010. It was an ill-advised gesture -- even if motivated by understandable frustration -- that promptly led to his dismissal from the organization. He was also later suspended 30 days by the Quebec Athletic Commission.

Dana White said at the time he would “never” fight for the UFC again. Whether he is able to ever change the UFC president’s mind or not, he just hopes for a little redemption in the eyes of the Montreal fans.

“I think it’s quite fitting that the event will be back at the Bell Centre,” Daley said. “It will give me a chance to redeem myself, not only to win where I last lost but to put on a good sportsmanlike performance and show that what happened last time was just a moment of craziness.”

Since that "moment of craziness" -- a sentiment most in attendance that night, including commentators Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg easily agreed with -- the 28-year-old Daley managed to win his next four fights in four different promotions and earned himself a shot at the Strikeforce welterweight title.

He lost that bout to Nick Diaz (who is now in the UFC but not exactly making the most positive headlines himself). Daley (28-11) then lost a second straight in Strikeforce before getting back on the winning track last month with a unanimous decision win over Jordan Radev in the promotion BAMMA back in his native England.

Daley, who said the athletic commission in Montreal has been very helpful and understanding since his unfortunate transgression, said he’s happy for the chance to hopefully erase that past incident for good.

“I’ve kind of put it behind me, I don’t really have time to dwell on it because I still have to pursue my career and be the best fighter that I can.”

First up from here, Fioravanti. If he gets past him, he then hopes to have another shot at the UFC, even pleading for a Diaz rematch before the latter gets his title shot.

Good luck with that, Semtex.

NOTES: Daley said Friday’s fight will be his last of the year. He will not be fighting at BAMMA 8 in December in a rumoured bout against another exiled ex-UFC fighter Nate Marquardt ... Fioravanti (22-10) is another former UFC fighter, though he hasn’t been in the Octagon since February 2009. The 30-year-old Orlando, Fla., native who fights out of American Top Team is on a two-fight losing streak, dropping a decision to Winnipeg’s Joe Doerksen at an event in Mississauga, Ont., in June ... The co-main event of Friday’s show (which can be seen live on online pay-per-view) will also feature a lightweight title fight between Montreal's Mike Ricci and Michigan’s Daron Cruickshank.

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