Paul Felder was all set to commentate Saturday's UFC event headlined by Rafael dos Anjos vs. Islam Makhachev at lightweight. However, when Makhachev, ranked #12, dropped out, Felder, ranked #5, agreed to step up on five days' notice. “The Irish Dragon” appeared recently on The Ariel Helwani MMA Show to talk about it.
“I thought about it and I decided with everything going on in the world and all the sad things going on in people’s lives and losing their jobs and suffering and we just lost Alex freaking Trebek to pancreatic cancer, I was like, ‘Man, you know you’re still 36. You’re young. You’re in shape. Save the date. Let’s go get paid. Let’s have fun. You’re fighting a legend,’” said Felder. “What do I have to lose?”
“I’m much leaner and lighter than I ever would normally be taking a fight on short notice. Normally this wouldn’t even be in the cards to even think about because I’d be 195, 198. I’m nowhere near that. I’m well under 80. I’m in the 70s. So, I’ll give you that. I’m in the 70s. With some time and water-loading and dehydration, I’ll be fine.”
Given Felder's current weight, the short notice, and RDA fighting regularly at welterweight, and currently ranked #12 at 170, a fight at the higher division would seemingly make sense, but it's not in the cards.
“I think he really wants to be fighting the top guys at 155 to make his comeback and give himself a chance. That was one of the stipulations,” explained Felder. “Obviously, we talked about catchweights, but I know with main events, if possible, they like to keep it at the weight That was one of the things, ‘Do you think you can make it?’ It’s not going to be fun, but I’m going to make it.”
“I like five-round fights. If you’re going to do a main event, I want to do it right. That’s what he’s been scheduled to do. So yeah, five rounds. I’m excited to do another five rounds, especially with somebody like RDA. This is an experiment. We’re going to see. My brain is fresh, my body is fresh. I’m not taking beatings in sparring like I normally do, but I’m still staying technically sharp and staying very fit, so we’ll see.
“I know I’m nearing the end of my career soon. This, I think, it’s win-win for me because if I go in there and I can finish and beat RDA, a former champ, then it gives me a lot of selling points to be getting these bigger fights which seem to have been eluding me at the top five of the lightweight division here in the UFC. How do you not give me something big after this if I go in there after stepping up? And, if it doesn’t go my way, then I saved the day. I’m going in there to try to win, so we’ll see.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T19OtPqRnyw
h/t Jed Meshew for MMA Fighting