( UFC contract: $Millions,  30-day suspension: $0, Becoming a bigger heel than Josh Koscheck for sucker punching him after the bell: PRICELESS)

Paul Daley is lucky he didn’t sucker punch Josh Koscheck in Nashville.

Otherwise, he likely would have received a much heftier punishment for the May 8 infraction than the 30-day suspension the Quebec athletic commission — the Régie des Alcools des Courses et des Jeux (Regulators of Alcohol, Racing and Gaming) — sentenced him to in his absence at a hearing in the French-Canadian province today.

Sherdog’s Loretta Hunt is reporting that the suspension may not even affect the British welterweight who fought on the July 18 Impact Fighting Championships card where he submitted Daniel Acacio and who is slated to take on Jorge Masvidal at Shark Fights 13 on Sept. 11 — two days AFTER his suspension ends if it begins immediately.


According to Hunt, it is unclear as to when the suspension period officially begins, but it’s likely that it will begin ticking down as soon as Daley receives documentation of the sanctions levied against him.

If you recall, Jason "Mayhem" Miller received a much more sizeable punishment  for inadvertently setting off the Strikeforce: Nashville brawl. Miller and four others, including the Diaz brothers, were initially given fines for as much as $20,000 as well as nine month suspensions. By waiving their right to a formal hearing, the quintet admitted their part in the brawl and as such their penalties were all reduced to $5000-7500 fines and three-month suspensions.

Both Miller and Nick Diaz were dropped from respective scheduled bouts with Strikeforce and DREAM as a result of their suspensions, which cost them much more than their fine amounts.

Besides being dropped by the UFC, which is perhaps the biggest blow to his career and pocketbook, Daley got off relatively easy considering the nature of his unsportsmanlike act. The penalty he was handed won’t do much to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again since it’s more of a paper punishment than anything else and it sets a bad precedent for fighters who commit similar offenses in the future.