Following Conor McGregor’s tirade at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, prior to UFC 223 last month, many discussed the idea of whether or not the UFC would completely cut ties with McGregor.
One man who is very familiar with this idea is current Bellator contender Paul Daley, who was banned from the UFC for life by UFC president Dana White after he sucker-punched Josh Koscheck following their bout at UFC 113 in 2010.
Daley, however, said that the UFC ‘can’t’ ban McGregor and that he actually understands the decision not to:
“I’ve seen all the comparisons, and yeah, the whole situation, it was very similar, and Dana could come across as being a little hypocritical. But for me, it’s a different ballgame,” Daley said Monday on The MMA Hour. “The UFC was in a different place then and it’s in a different place now, and a lot of where they are now is down to Conor McGregor. So if you’ve got someone bringing in money, and is raising the sport and your promotion to greater heights, then you can’t ban him for life because business is going to go bad for you. So I understand.”
But while he understands the UFC’s decision, he doesn’t exactly agree with it:
“Yeah, really, he should be treated the same as I was,” Daley continued. “He should be banned for life. What he did as a guy with his profile in the sport and for the company of the UFC, he should be banned for life, if, for what I did, I got banned for life. But business and business and they need him, and I like Conor McGregor and I respect him, and I respect Dana’s choice. It’s a smart move.”
Following the incident, McGregor spent a night incarcerated in a Brooklyn, New York precinct. He will appear in court next month, but he has yet to receive any type of punishment from the UFC.
As far as Daley goes, the 35-year-old is scheduled to take on fellow UFC veteran Jon Fitch at Bellator 199 this Saturday (May 12, 2018).
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