Paul Felder: I'm not going anywhere

Paul Felder had been considering retirement since he lost a Split Decision to Dan Hooker in February. His loss before that was via Split Decision, to Mike Perry at UFC 226 on July 7, 2018. The idea of retiring was likely made easier by his current success as a commentator for the league. But after taking a main event fight vs. former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos on five days notice, and losing for the third time via Split Decision, his desire to fight on was renewed.

“I can tell you guys with certainty: I’m not going anywhere right now,” said Felder told Michael Bisping post-fight. “I lost my passion for this sport pretty bad. I can tell you I’m not done. I might lose my ranking a little bit, but what I’ve learned in this sport is none of that matters. What matters is going out there, showing up, showing who you are inside and what determination you have.”

“I got a little tired there in the fifth, but I really think the problem is I was in striking shape and in really good cardio shape for the triathlon, but I hadn’t grappled. I’ll be honest. Now I can be completely upfront with you guys: I have not stepped foot in an MMA gym in almost four months. So it was completely based on pure endurance training and some pad work. Coming here and cutting over 22 pounds in four days, Thursday night was probably one of the darkest nights of my life cutting that weight, but I said I was going to be the first one on that scale, I was the first one on that scale. I said I was going to give hell to a former world champion and give five rounds if I had to, and we just gave a five-round battle.”

“This is exactly what I wanted,. This sport breaks you, man. It’s tough. I see it day in and day out when I’m calling these fights. I needed something to motivate me again. … To get a split decision [vs.] this guy, and I think we got ‘Fight of the Night,’ I just hope the UFC is proud of me and happy, and I hope everybody back home – I love you guys. This was for my dad, this was for my family. This was for you guys.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmIATTS7_RY

h/t Mike Bohn for MMA Junkie

He retired, came back, got dominated, and now wants to keep fighting.

I'm guessing he got a bump in pay for taking this short notice RDA fight.

Hes the new cowboy. Cowboys on his way to being the next bj penn.

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