Paul Daley claims a previous altercation with UFC standout Dustin Poirier resulted in his bitter rivalry with Bellator 257 opponent Sabah Homasi.

The veteran welterweight, Daley (42-17-2 MMA), returns to the cage this Friday night in Uncasville for a bout with the streaking American in Homasi (15-8 MMA).

The highly anticipated welterweight contest will take place on the main card of Bellator 257, an event headlined by a rematch between light heavyweights Vadim Nemkov and Phil Davis.

Ahead of what could be one of the final fights of his illustrious career, Paul Daley revealed that he has extra motivation for his bout with Homasi stemming from a previous altercation with UFC lightweight Dustin Poirier.

According to ‘Semtex’, ‘The Diamond‘ was cornering one of his previous opponents during a Bellator fight week. Things were cordial until Poirier allegedly “talked some sh*t” at the weigh-ins, which resulted in Daley confronting him at the hotel lobby.

“I thought, ‘He’s a cool guy,’ even though he was cornering the guy I’m fighting,” Daley told MMAJunkie on Wednesday. “Then, I hear on the video he was shouting some sh*t off-stage. I thought, ‘Oh, that’s a bit of a snake. So I’ll have to ask him why he’s doing that.’”

Paul Daley continued by suggesting that he later found Dustin Poirier in the hotel lobby where he proceed to confront the UFC’s former interim lightweight title holder.

“He was on the defensive,” Daley said of Poirier. “Then, his corner were talking up, and I put them in their place and said, ‘Look, I (am) here on my own. There are four of you guys. If you want it, you can get it. That’s the type of guy I am. I’ll f*ck all of you up right now outside of the cage. That’s what it was.”

“I have to fight this guy (Homasi),” Paul Daley continued. “I have to fight him on Friday, and I’m going to beat him up. That’s it.”

Do you think ‘Semtex’ will be able to earn victory number forty-three of his MMA career when he faces Homasi at Bellator 257? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!