The failure of the British invasion....again.

When will the British learn, crossing the pond to take on the yanks is not a good idea. At least Dan Hardy had the good sense to take his beating in England (and it was to a canadian...which is arguably worse). Michael Bisping and Paul Daley are two of Britain's brightest stars, and both of them came up short in the biggest fights of their careers.
While Bisping merely got some free nap-time courtesy of Olympic silver medalist, Dan Henderson, Daley's trip to the octagon could very well end up his last. Despite the ads leading up to the fight portraying his opponent, Josh Koscheck, as a stand up fighter knocking out opponents, the truth is that Kos is a wrestler, and he was not stupid enough to think he could go toe-to-toe with the aptly named Semtex Daley. His gameplan was just that. Invoking flashes of the great Croatian Sedation, Pat Miletich or the even more boring Matt Lindland, Koscheck played human blanket for three rounds to pick up the judges nod, but not before doing enough to get the ire of the fire-handed Brit. During one exchange, while Kos was getting up, Daley threw a knee shot that would have been a foul had it actually landed. The ever aware Koscheck did not pass up the opportunity, as he clutched his face and writhed on the ground for minutes. That gave the booth ample time to show replays, and it was so apparent the knee failed to connect that even Joe Rogan said, "Um, yeah that's a miss." Add to that the fact that Kos talked some trash to Daley in the closing seconds and as one might guess the semtex detonated. After the bell (or more accurately, airhorn...wtf Dana?) Daley pushed past the ref and rounded on Kos to give him his take on the fight....a lazy left hook to the kisser. This shot really just impacted Kos's glove, but once again the victimized fighter sold it well, and I even found myself wondering if Daley had stored some brass knuckles in his trunks a la WWE.
Unfortunately, that punch might have been the last one thrown in the UFC. An enraged White said the Daley was done in the UFC, forever. He elaborated to say that he doesn't care if Daley is the number one ww in the world, he'll never fight in the UFC again. Good job Dana. Way to take the moral highground for once, right? Wrong. Let's turn back the clock a few weeks to the Mayhem brawl at Strikeforce. You remember that one, right? The one where Dana got on his shiny high horse to say that that is what CBS gets for going with a second rate promotion and that that kind of thing would never happen in the UFC...ringing any bells, airhorns? Dana could have been reasonable in commenting on the Strikeforce brawl, as it is the kind of thing that can really happen to anyone, especially when one of the key figures involved is under contract with the UFC (Nate Diaz). But no, he had to take it as an opportunity to denigrate the competition and really make himself come off like an ass. In retrospect, perhaps he should have treated it like the dishonorable post fight behavior could have happened to anyone, because it happened to him. This put him in a position that he really dislikes....being put on the same level as the competition. Dana had no choice but to make a sacrificial lamb in order to save the face of the UFC. I hope Daley never puts two and two together, because it is a real shame to know that a fighter's career has been possibly ruined because of Dana's trying to distance the UFC from the competitors. It's a real good thing Dana is in this for the love of the sport and the fighters, right?
But before anyone thinks I am making excuses for Daley, let me just clear the air. What he did was classless, petty, and wrong, and he should be punished. Is a lifetime exile a fitting punishment to such an egregious offense? Let's look no further than the UFC's track record in handling violations and unsavory characters. Exhibit 1: The New York Dumbass, Phil Baroni.
Phil Baroni was a mindless thug who had a notable rivalry with Matt Lindland. It was notable not because Baroni was a good fighter, but because the viewing public could not wrap its head around the fact that a skinny wrestler who threw chicken wing punches cold defeat a chiseled muscle freak with sledgehammer hands, so we insisted on them fighting again to rectify the natural order. Unfortunately, Baroni lost that one as well. But I digress. The incident in question was a fight with the late Evan Tanner at UFC 45 (2003). Baroni was actually dominating Tanner until Tanner remembered that he had actual talent and took down Baroni, mounted him, and began dropping elbows on Baroni's skull. The referee, big Larry Landless, was right in the thick of the action checking on Baroni's condition. An alleged miscommunication between the ref and Baroni saw Landless stop the fight. An enraged Baroni took a swing at Landless. Sounds pretty bad, right? What punishment did Baroni receive for his misconduct? A one year suspension. The difference? There are two. The first is that the UFC wasn't scared to be associated with any other promotion, and two is that while Daley was a legit contender...Baroni could barely keep a .500 record. Clearly Baroni was an asset who needed to be held close to the chest, as you don't want to cut him loose and risk him going to some other promotion to lose. And FYI the UFC recently resigned Baroni, who promptly lost his first fight. W00t. Exhibit 2: Gilbert Yvel
If there was ever a fighter who deserved the reputation he received for being a dirty fighter it's Yvel. At Pride 17 he was disqualified for repeatedly eye gouging his opponent Don Frye, and he was constantly getting yellow carded for his unsportsmanlike antics. The real gem is the time he knocked out the referee in a fight. Let me repeat that: HE KNOCKED OUT THE REFEREE IN ONE OF HIS FIGHTS. It's on google video, and that's better than being in the Bible (that's a cue to go watch it). So what's the point? Here is a fighter who is arguably the biggest liability ever to put on a card, and the UFC signs him. When combined with his horrible showings over the last couple of years, one has to wonder what would make the UFC take such a chance. At the very least it doesn't paint too glowing a picture of the UFC's staunch position on honorable behavior.

Now here is the best part. Dana is no fool. He might act like a vindicative, jilted prom date when it comes to business, but when his panties aren't bunched he is a very shrewd businessman. If Daley gets a big following after this ban, the money to be made will talk louder than any sense of moral propriety that Dana could have. Conclusion? Daley will be back. The proof? Ever hear of Tito Ortiz, Couture, BJ Penn....to name a few? These are all fighters that have pissed Dana off to the point where he told them they would never be in the UFC again. During the contractual disputes with Ortiz, Dana even went so far in his pettiness to erase Ortiz from the UFC online database. Couture went off and did the EA MMA video game despite White's threats that any fighter who did so would be banned for life from the UFC. Lastly, when BJ Penn left the UFC to go fight in Japan after taking the welterweight title from Matt Hughes at UFC 46, Dana excoriated Penn telling him that he has burned his bridge with the UFC and will never fight for them again.

Conclusions? Daley will fight again, and the real loser out of all of this mess is White himself. This is just going to go down as another instance of him speaking without any consideration to anything other than his self-serving motives, and when it proves unfeasible he will go back on what he said like it never happened. I wonder who taught him his business practices...my mother? Dana needs to relegate his appearances to the TUF reality show where he can swear as much as he wants, and nothing he can say there is of any real consequence. This is what happens when you take a "Road Rules" character and put him in "The Apprentice". At least in that show there is someone to tell Dana, "you're fired." Here's to hoping, America.