EliteXC and Cage Rage fighter Paul Daley has left a post on the Cage Warriors forum area indicating that he could retire upon fulfillment of his EliteXC contract on March 29 (presumably during ShoXC in Santa Ynez, Calif.):

This is for the fighters, fans, promoters and trolls alike.

As of now i will be stepping down as Cage Rage Champion (British and world), FX-3 Champion and KOTR champion. I vacate all these titles. Futher more i consider my self retired (from all MMA/Thai boxing) as of March 29th. March 29th i will fullfill my contracted commitment for Pro Elite, against a yet un named opponent.

No speculation, No futher annonucments, once i’ve found the path i originally set out on in the Martial Arts, i may return to this SPORT, Maybe 6months-Maybe 6 years, who knows.

Who will be the next welterweight CRC champ. FX-3 champ????…

Thanks

I don’t profess to know Paul Daley too well but I did get to see him behind the scenes during January’s ShoXC event in Atlantic City and even had a chance to interview him the day before his win over Sammy Morgan. Let me just say, I’m not buying the retirement talk. Daley did not strike me as a fighter who was looking for a way out. In fact, the complete opposite. He struck me as a guy who was looking for a bigger way into the sport in the U.S. I vividly remember him saying he was looking for bigger opportunities.

Some people might say that if Daley was thinking retirement at the time, why would he say anything? Well, sometimes fighters say things to you that make you question whether they are truly committed to the sport. In fact, there were a couple of fighters on that card that I spoke to that sort of left me with that impression.

Daley struck me as a guy who loved to fight and couldn’t envision himself doing anything else. He not only seemed like a guy who understand the fighting aspect of MMA, but also the business aspect and how a fighter needs to give a little bit of himself to the people in order to resonate with them.

We’ll have to see. I’m hoping that this is either some kind of ploy for publicity, or perhaps Daley is upset with something pertaining to his career and this is his way of calling someone’s bluff. Or, maybe he really is ready to move onto something else? If the latter is the case, I’ll say it’s a big loss for the sport because Daley has the potential to be a star.