Report: Shields-Daley on Oct. 4; Noons given deadline to fight Diaz

Submitted by Fight Ticker on August 21, 2008 - 10:09am.

SI.com's Josh Gross is reporting that EliteXC welterweight champ Jake Shields has verbally agreed to fight British mercurial stud Paul Daley on EliteXC's CBS card on October 4. Gross is also reporting that EliteXC lightweight champ KJ Noons has a Thursday 8 PM ET deadline to agree to a title defense against Nick Diaz.

The report doesn't specify what will happen to Noons if he doesn't agree to the Diaz fight within the specified timetable but EliteXC VP Jared Shaw has already called out Noons in previous published reports and the promotion is clearly losing patience with its top 160-pounder as it tries to put together a blockbuster card for its third CBS show.

The third CBS show is already scheduled to feature heavyweight Kimbo Slice (against an unknown opponent) and women's 140-pounder Gina Carano (against Kelly Kobold-Gavin) but the additions of two legitimate title fights would certainly add gravity to the event.

(Photo of Paul Daley courtesy of ProElite.com.)

Comments

Well, this will surely show

Well, this will surely show where Jake Shields stands as a fighter. Paul Daley is a monster. If Shields takes Daley out, then I would consider him behind probably just Georges St. Pierre in the welterweight division standings.

Submitted by TheBudCan on August 21, 2008 - 11:30am.

TBC, even better than Fitch?

Submitted by Fight Ticker on August 21, 2008 - 11:33am.

I think I would, Ticker.

I think I would, Ticker. Shields has wins over Hayato Sakurai, Akira Kikuchi (although he has a loss to him, too), Dave Menne (towards the end of his career), Carlos Condit, Yushin Okami, Renato Verissimo, Mike Pyle, Nick Thompson (Shields DOMINATED Thompson here), and a draw with Kazuo Misaki. If you throw a win over Paul Daley in there, I'd put him at number two.To me, Fitch's big wins are over Brock Larson, Thiago Alves and Diego Sanchez. A win over Daley for Shields trumps that, in my opinion.

Submitted by TheBudCan on August 21, 2008 - 11:42am.

Pretty convincing TBC. Adds

Pretty convincing TBC. Adds to my really strong hope that we can see Fitch vs. St. Pierre soon. Neither has any true equals in their own promotions.

I wonder what Fitch's contract status with EliteXC is right now. I'd imagine that the UFC would be willing to sign him to a nice contract once he becomes a free agent if he looks good against Daley on CBS.

Submitted by Fight Ticker on August 21, 2008 - 11:46am.

i think this was what was

i think this was what was being planned for shields and daley to begin with. i just assumed they would both have 1 fight each before facing each other.

not sure how highly i would vault shields in the rankings but i do like daley, i think he is a legit competitor.

as far as noons-diaz, for the sake of seeing a fight happen that i found to end in unfortunate circumstances, i really do think noons should fight diaz. the title doesnt mean crap when you got KTFOed by krazy horse anyway.

Submitted by bosco on August 21, 2008 - 11:46am.