Daley's effort in an amazing and exciting brawl with then Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz resulted in some loss of the ill will from fans toward Paul. He would lose the Diaz bout and now is set to face Tyron Woodley at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson on July 30.
Sergio Non of USA Today recently posted some quotes by Daley as he talked about the Diaz fight and his upcoming bout with Woodley. I found Paul's talk about improving his wrestling to be the most interesting part of the interview:
Moving on, you've got Tyron Woodley coming up. He's a wrestler -- how do you stop him from doing what Josh Koscheck did to you?
First off, I don't think Tyron Woodley's as good a wrestler as Josh Koscheck. He's not as big as Josh Koscheck. He is as athletic, but on the technical side, I don't think he can compete with Josh Koscheck.
People are comparing this to that. People do forget in the Koscheck fight, there are takedowns that I stopped. I think that Josh Koscheck is a higher level than Tyron Woodley, so even if I'm able to stop two of his takedowns or stuff them or stall two of his takedowns back then, I think Tyron Woodley's going to have a very difficult time taking me down when I'm on form, when I'm 100%.
...
Wrestlers say it takes years to master their art. How much improvement have you made?
Right. It takes years to master wrestling, but a boxer would not tell you it takes years to learn how to throw a jab. I'm not learning how to wrestle; I'm learning how to defeat a wrestler. Every time I have Kenny in camp, I'm focusing on the same points every time.
So it's like if I was having a boxing coach come over. Every time I have him in camp, he's showing me how to jab, he's showing me how to jab. He's showing me different variations on the jab.
I'm not trying to be a world-class wrestler. I'm trying to know enough to stop wrestlers taking advantage of their strengths against me. So people will be shocked.
There's much more good stuff in the full interview and Paul continues to flesh out the boxing training to wrestling training analogy in the full article. Go give it a read.First off, I don't think Tyron Woodley's as good a wrestler as Josh Koscheck. He's not as big as Josh Koscheck. He is as athletic, but on the technical side, I don't think he can compete with Josh Koscheck.
People are comparing this to that. People do forget in the Koscheck fight, there are takedowns that I stopped. I think that Josh Koscheck is a higher level than Tyron Woodley, so even if I'm able to stop two of his takedowns or stuff them or stall two of his takedowns back then, I think Tyron Woodley's going to have a very difficult time taking me down when I'm on form, when I'm 100%.
...
Wrestlers say it takes years to master their art. How much improvement have you made?
Right. It takes years to master wrestling, but a boxer would not tell you it takes years to learn how to throw a jab. I'm not learning how to wrestle; I'm learning how to defeat a wrestler. Every time I have Kenny in camp, I'm focusing on the same points every time.
So it's like if I was having a boxing coach come over. Every time I have him in camp, he's showing me how to jab, he's showing me how to jab. He's showing me different variations on the jab.
I'm not trying to be a world-class wrestler. I'm trying to know enough to stop wrestlers taking advantage of their strengths against me. So people will be shocked.