Paul Daley will take on Jon Fitch in the co-main event of Saturday’s Bellator 199 event; a fight that ‘finally’ makes sense to him.

Paul Daley is heading into his 58th professional MMA bout this Saturday and has a matchup that gets him excited.

The man known as “Semtex” will take on fellow longtime veteran Jon Fitch, who will be making his organizational debut, in the co-main event of Bellator 199 at the SAP Center in San Jose, CA .

Daley (40-15-2) is coming off of an impressive second-round knockout of fellow UFC veteran Lorenz Larkin at Bellator 183 in September. Larkin is another exciting striker, which was tailor-made to Daley’s style.

When the fight was made, fight fans across the globe were excited to have two recognizable names stand across from each other. Stylistically, however, the formula doesn’t always equate to “fireworks”. Daley is quite aware of that and is up to the challenge.

“It very well could be a boring fight. It is my job to make it exciting,” Daley told FanSided MMA. “That’s what I’ve been doing my whole career. On paper, this is a bad matchup. It’s a wrestler. I just go out there to fight without worrying about what people think. I know how I perform. Yeah, I’ve fought wrestlers in the past that have gotten victories over me fighting boring fights. But s–t, where are they now? I’m still here. I’m still co-main eventing. That’s because I entertain the fans. I knock people out. On May 12, that’s what I plan on doing.”

The sport of mixed martial arts has certainly made a big transition over the years to more of an entertainment style product. The 35-year-old Daley is all about entertainment when it comes to what he does when the cage door shuts, but not the extra curricular activities that go a long with it. Daley is a fighter. He will talk trash when needed, but Daley, who made his MMA debut in June 2003, has not changed in regards to how he views the sport, and martial arts in general. He plans on utilizing his old school approach when he steps in the Bellator cage with Fitch this weekend.

“I’m so over the MMA thing,” Daley stated. “To me, it’s all about what it was like when I entered into this sport. That’s to finish fights as a martial artist, as if it were life or death. I’m not coming to play no points, I’m coming to finish you, I’m coming to kill you. That’s what martial arts is — it’s self-defense. You’re coming at me, I’m coming at you harder. One of us is going to be standing there in the end. F–k all the wrestling s–t.”

Since Fitch had his last fight with the UFC in February 2013, he went on to compete for World Series of Fighting, now the Professional Fighters League. After an up and down start, Fitch went on to win his last four fights while becoming, and defending, their welterweight title. His last performance was one of the best of his career, a second-round submission of Brian Foster at PFL: Daytona last June. When the fight was offered to Daley, in Fitch’s hometown of San Jose, it excited him.

“I’ve fought wrestlers in the past that have gotten victories over me fighting boring fights. But s–t, where are they now? I’m still here. I’m still co-main eventing. That’s because I entertain the fans.”

“I was happy that it was finally a fight offered that makes sense to me,” Daley said. “Coming off of the win over Lorenz Larkin, Fitch is a great name. He’s been in there with the best. He’s challenged for the (UFC) title, he’s been a champion in a different organization and when they changed over, he came to Bellator. To me, he’s still a champion. He comes from a great team and it’s in his hometown. It’s a big fight and it had my interest. It has allowed me to train with that extra intensity and focus.”

As far as preparation goes, the Nottingham native is very pleased with the work he has put in. Although Fitch has a tremendous wrestling game, Daley didn’t change much with his approach. There wasn’t any extra wrestling training, but more utilizing the skills he has to thwart what Fitch will bring to the table.

“Obviously, coming into this fight, I’ve watched some of his previous fights,” Daley explained. “He’s still Jon Fitch. He’s shown vulnerability. He’s shown things that I can take advantage of. Do I feel, stylistically, that I’ve made certain adjustments in my approach, in my striking strategy, to deal with his offense? Yes. Do I feel very confident that I’m going to beat him? Yes, but Jon has looked good in his previous fights. He’s always been a very well-conditioned guy, his cardio is always pretty good, his wrestling is always pretty good. I’ve seen nothing that has come out that has stood out to me. It’s the same old Jon Fitch.”

Daley is enthused, to say the least, to be in the co-main event of a big event against an opponent he respects. Be that as it may, Daley knows he has a job to do. If the results of that job happens to have the AKA trained Fitch questioning his future, that is icing on the cake.

“It’s just a fight,” Daley said. “He’s coming to wrestle and I’m coming to knock him out. That’s the big difference. He is coming in to get to the end of 15 minutes. I’m trying to destroy this guy. I’m trying to get him to feel his age, have his wife crying at ring side saying that he’s 40 years old, why is he still doing this? That’s the kind of effect I’m trying to have. I’m not trying to make it to the end of three, five-minute rounds. I’m coming to stop Jon Fitch. That’s why I’m the co-main event and that’s the way that it is.”

Saturday night, Bellator looks to put its best foot forward as they go head-to-head with the UFC and UFC 224. In a night full of intriguing and fascinating matchups, Daley is looking to stand out in the excitement department. When it comes to predictions, Daley expects to get his hand raised at Bellator 199, but is keeping it simple and fan-friendly.

“Paul Daley entertains, that’s it,” Daley said. “That’s what I do; I entertain. What can I say? That is it.”