Daley's strike happened after the referee got between both fighters. Rampage and Hendo struck both their opponents before the referee intervened which in in no way illegal. Daley's in the wrong on this one and with him not being a high market commodity, should have expected little to no leeway concerning punishment.
Being British myself, I thought the whole incident was incredibly humiliating to watch. an audience of millions and there is a British guy acting like a total prat. It mentioned in the buildup that he has been training with Dan Hardy, and I think he is a real wanker judging by everything I've ever heard come out of his mouth. I bet he's laughing now.
I know it's not the exactly the same - you often here that whole 'keep fighting till the referee intervenes' crap being spouted; using that same logic I often seen illegal blows in boxing excused when the commentators state 'well the rules do say protect yourselves at all times'. The fact is if the 'heat of the moment' excuse can be used as a defence for Henderson it can certainly be used to defend Daley. I'm a Hendo fan, but he knew Bisping was out. His second blow was a release after having to put up with Bisping's behaviour during T.U.F. And I notice you didn't refer to Rampage striking Wanderlei twice after Lavigne grabbed hold of him. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5v-x4wiYDs&feature=related[/ame] Forward to 3:15 you lazy ****ers.
The more Dana White makes pronouncements on fights e.g. Anderson Silva, cutting Daley etc. the more he makes the UFC sound like some travelling tent to show entertainment. Daley should be referred to a independent disciplinary panel. And it needs to be some legitimate contender system where fighters can work their way to title contention.
You realize those are completely different situations, right? It is the fighters job to keep fighting until the ref steps in and stops the fight. I can remember MANY times when I thought a guy was knocked out from a punch on their feet... only to recover within a split second and regain composure.... and continue fighting. It is the fighters job to pounce on his downed opponent and finish him off until the ref steps in. Sometimes they are still striking as the ref is pulling them off... that is what happens when you are in a fight. There is a HUGE difference between that, and walking up behind your opponent after the fight is over, tapping him on his shoulder to get him to turn around... and hitting him with a sucker punch. I can't believe that you even tried to draw a comparison between those situations. :-(
With the **** talking Dana did after the Strikeforce brawl... He had no choice but to lower the boom on Daley. Hell.. he did the same thing to Babalu when he held his choke too long.
Look Daley deserves to be reprimanded - a lengthy ban would've been fitting punishment. If he had done some serious damage to Koscheck i'd be in favour of him facing assault charges. I'm not trying to defend the man - he's quite clearly a despicable ****. But .... did you watch the above clip? Rampage knew Wanderlei was out cold. He hit him three times after he hit the deck. Twice after Lavigne grasped him to stop the fight. Rampage wasn't hitting him to make sure of the result. He was aware Wandy was out. He also must've been aware of Lavigne's arms wrapped around him. That was clearly revenge. Rogan said as such. The reason why I keep mentioning this incident, is because as you have acknowledged such conduct is hardly extraordinary or rare. Through ignoring such incidents the UFC is essentially condoning this behaviour; if MMA is to be cleaned up and made a more edifying spectacle, I don't think it's right or fiar to only focus on after the bell incidents such as the one at Strikeforce: Nashville or Daley's sucker punch.
