One of the biggest free-agent signings in Bellator Fighting Championships history apparently will have to wait a while before competing for the promotion again.

Paul Daley (30-12-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC), who was expected to be part of the promotion’s Season 8 welterweight tournament, has been pulled from the tourney lineup. Visa issues will keep the Brit from fighting in America at least into the spring – and, reportedly, an alleged arrest might not be helping matters.

Bellator officials on Wednesday confirmed to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Daley no longer is part of the next 170-pound tournament, in which he likely would have been the betting favorite to win and advance to a Bellator title shot. ESPN first reported the news of Daley’s removal, citing an assault charge following a bar fight as the reason he will be unable to obtain a visa to fight in the United States.

Daley posted on his Facebook page overnight, acknowledging the visa difficulty – but saying stories circulating that he was in a “bar brawl” were incorrect.

“It seems as (though) a mass press release has gone out to the MMA media stating I was involved bar brawl, arrested and cannot obtain a P-1 visa to compete in the USA,” Daley stated. “I am currently awaiting a decision on my visa, which is not expected until late April. Which means i am unable to compete in the Season 8 Bellator tournament, as it starts in January. I will be fighting in Europe in the coming months, so I am able to stay active while awaiting a decision on my visa status. I was not involved in a bar brawl. This is 100 (percent) a false statement.”

Daley was part of a recent fan vote involving the top four welterweights expected to be part of the Season 8 170-pound tournament, with the top vote-getters fighting to open the promotion’s January debut on Spike TV.

The fans chose a fight between Daley and Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver (12-4 MMA, 0-0 BFC), who recently completed a jail stint. But a pair of War Machine injuries earlier this month knocked him out of his expected Bellator debut against Daley. The two still were expected to fight, just not likely in Season 8.

Now Daley’s issues have knocked him from his second Bellator fight and a shot at the tournament title.

In Daley’s Facebook post, he denied being involved in a “bar brawl,” but didn’t disavow the report saying assault charges had been filed against him. Bellator representatives could not yet officially comment on Daley’s removal.

Daley is no stranger to controversy. After a unanimous decision loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 113 in May 2010, Daley punched Koscheck well after the final bell. At the post-event news conference in Montreal, UFC President Dana White said Daley would never again fight for the UFC. The former kick boxer had been 2-0 for the UFC with first-round stoppages of Martin Kampmann and Dustin Hazelett before the loss to Koscheck and subsequent released.

Outside the promotion, he won four straight, including a first-round knockout of Scott Smith for Strikeforce that got him a title shot against Nick Diaz. But after being on the ropes in the first round, Diaz mounted a comeback and won with three seconds left in the first.

After back-to-back Strikeforce losses, Daley was granted his release from the promotion and signed with Bellator. He won his debut with the promotion this past August with a first-round TKO of Rudy Bears.

For more on Bellaor’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Paul Daley)