Paul Daley lost the fight. He also didn't fare so well against the TV broadcast censors.
The 35-year-old Brit was beaten up for three rounds by Jon Fitch in the co-main event of Bellator 199 on Saturday night in San Jose, California, and as the lopsided bout wore down to its bruising finish, Daley added his own analysis to the Paramount Network telecast.
Pinned against the cage in prone position with the 40-year-old Fitch (31-7-1, 1 NC) lying on top, punching him in the head -- as had been the case for much of the three rounds -- Daley (40-16-2) must have heard the nearby broadcast team critiquing his inability to get the fight back to standing, which is where he needed it to be in order to have any chance of winning. Daley has 40 career victories, 30 of which have come by KO. Fitch is all wrestler, vulnerable to being exposed on his feet -- if you can get him there once he has you on the ground.
As Bellator television analyst John McCarthy pointed out technical flaws in Daley's attempt to escape a position in which he was being dominated, Daley suddenly turned to the cageside broadcast position and began blurting out his own commentary. It was a bizarre spectacle, with the fighter taking punches to the head as he spoke to the broadcasters.
The first part of Daley's commentary was unintelligible on the telecast, with Paramount muting most every word, presumably because he was using expletives. Then Daley began critiquing Bellator for matching him up with someone who was stymieing his hard-punching fight style by blanketing him on the canvas.
"You're going to get lots of fans with this, Bellator," Daley said sarcastically. "Millions! Millions of fans!"
Finally, seconds before the final horn, as Fitch continued to hit him on the left side of his head, Daley started booing, just as much of the crowd at the SAP Center had been doing during various spells of the three-round smothering.
"Boo!" he yelled. "Boo!"
A Bellator representative said the promotion had no comment on the Daley diatribe.
He added that Bellator president Scott Coker did mention Daley in his comments to reporters but just repeated what he'd been saying all week -- that he still wants to meet with Paul about staying with Bellator and that Daley remains one of Coker's favorite fighters.
Daley alienating the promotion that employs him is nothing new. In 2010, he was released from the UFC after sucker-punching his opponent, Josh Koscheck, well after the final horn. Koscheck had just finished off a dominant decision victory by doing exactly what Fitch did -- taking Daley to the canvas and unleashing a sustained beatdown.