Written by Soren Lindseth
The current 11th-ranked lightweight contender and beloved broadcaster Paul “The Irish Dragon” Felder announced his retirement during the broadcast of UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt last Saturday. As we review his mixed martial arts career as a whole as well as his six-plus year run in the UFC in multiple capacities, what is it that stood Felder out as a great example for fellow and aspiring fighters to follow?
Paul Felder was, and remains, a man that wears many hats, a jack-of-all-trades if you will. The man has perfected the ability to turn the intensity on in the Octagon, then put the suit on the next weekend and articulate himself masterfully as he commentates an entire fight card from early prelims all the way to the main event over the course of several hours. He certainly left a mark on his peers, one that has them all collectively rave about the genuine, down-to-earth guy he is as well as the fierce competitor that steps up when nobody else will.
Felder’s UFC career had its ups and downs, but it was his character and heart through these trials that showed the MMA world what a special fighter Felder was. The Philadelphia native amassed a professional record of 17-6, with a UFC record of 9-6. While there have been more impressive records, these numbers do not tell his story.
Felder began his professional MMA career in December 2011, fighting for regional promotion Cage Fury Fighting Championships. Aside from a two-fight stint outside of CFFC where he would fight in his home state of Pennsylvania for Xtreme Fight Events and Pinnacle FC, Felder would develop his skills as a fighter primarily out of Cage Fury until his call up to the big stage.
Regardless of what fight promotion Felder was competing in at the time, he was finding the same results time in and time out, getting his hand raised. The most notable win of his early career would be a 70-second TKO of future UFC fighter Khama Worthy. Worthy would not be the only victim of the 2nd-degree Taekwondo black belt’s rise, he would finish his first four opponents before the third round, with six of his eight pre-UFC fights being won by KO or TKO.
It was only a matter of time before Dana White and team would take notice of his talent, knocking out Marc Stevens to claim the CFFC lightweight strap. He would then lock in his call up with one of the greatest Cage Fury moments of all time. He would absolutely toy with Craig Johnson in his first title defense, stuffing all his opponent’s takedown attempts and nearly finishing him more than once. Then with a little over a minute to go in the 2nd round, he unleashed a spinning heel hick from hell that would sleep his opponent and rock the regional MMA scene.
If his last performance was not enough, his resume would earn him a shot in the UFC, making his promotional debut less than two months later.
He would extend his unbeaten run to start his career by earning a split decision win over Jason Saggo in his UFC debut. His next appearance would serve to be a tad more memorable, notching a spectacular spinning back fist KO that would stiffen Danny Castillo to improve his record to 10-0 and earn his first-ever performance bonus.
This would certainly make for a huge step up in competition for the Roufusport product, drawing an already established and feared Brazilian striker in Edson Barboza on short notice. Felder would not waver, rising to the occasion to match Barboza in throwing spinning and dynamic attacks to please the fans and earn a Fight of the Night bonus.
On the contrary, Barboza would connect more at a higher percentage, causing Felder to suffer his first loss in his professional career. Felder would eventually avenge his loss to Barboza four years later, albeit in a controversial decision. He would subsequently lose a split decision to journeyman Ross Pearson, causing his stock to drop for the time being. It would be the only time in Felder’s storied career that he would drop two in a row until 2020.
Felder would go 2-1 with a finish in 2016, his loss coming by 3rd round doctor stoppage TKO due to a nasty gash above his right eye courtesy of Francisco Trinaldo.
Felder had a great bounce-back year in 2017, winning all three fights by KO/TKO to earn two more performance bonuses. Amongst these victories was a 2nd TKO over current lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. A well-aged victory, as Felder to this day is the last person to defeat the newly crowned champ, who is riding a historic nine-fight win streak with eight finishes and seven performance bonuses since his loss to Felder.
Felder would only fight once in 2018 as a short-notice replacement against Mike Perry, a fight that would be his only appearance at welterweight against an opponent at the time that been knocking everyone out but suffered only his second and third losses at the time in a row. Despite ultimately coming up short, Felder would display valiant effort, with one judge scoring the fight for Felder despite sustaining a broken arm.
In 2019, Felder would get back on track with a unanimous decision victory over James Vick in a complete bloodbath that would result in another injury much more severe than the last. Felder would toughen out the final moments of the fight with a collapsed lung. He then went on to give a post-fight interview to Jon Anik in which he would pay homage to his late father and family along with hyping up a matchup with either Edson Barboza or Justin Gaethje, not showing any signs of the severe injury.
That next month, Gaethje would knock Barboza out, and due to Felder’s positioning barely inside the top ten, he got the rematch with Barboza, avenging his first-ever loss in a controversial split decision fashion, but avenging it nonetheless.
This win, likely the greatest of his career in terms of magnitude in the division, would see him become the sixth-ranked lightweight. Although this would be the highest ranking he would reach in his career, the perseverance and struggle it takes to earn that recognition at the highest of levels in your profession is no small task, and something very few can say they have accomplished. Considering how MMA fans and pundits recognize lightweight to be the deepest and most competitive division in the UFC today, this furthers just how impressive this feat is.
Felder would fight Dan Hooker in another epic battle that earned another Fight of the Night bonus from the UFC brass. Fans saw this one, the second-straight split decision for Felder, to have another controversial outcome as well. This time Felder would not get his hand raised in a fight that most fans scored for Felder. It is worth noting that the fight took place on Hooker’s home soil of Auckland, New Zealand, which you hate to think may have factored in.
After the fight with Hooker, Felder announced his retirement in the octagon but reneged shortly after in an interview saying that he would accept fight offers if they were interesting enough.
Felder would hold off for the time being. By the time November rolled around, a highly anticipated fight between former champion Rafael Dos Anjos and surging Dagestani prospect Islam Makhachev was set to headline the November 14th Fight Night card. Then in a turn of events during the week of the fight, Makhachev had to pull out due to staph infection, sending the UFC into panic mode. Then, in typical Paul Felder fashion, he would step up on just five days notices to headline opposite RDA.
Although Felder would be dominated for most of the fight, his heart and determination were on full display throughout. It was clear that he was not ready for the pace that RDA put on him since he had not been actively training for a fight.
Nevertheless, he did not give up and made it to the final horn.
The judging on display that night had been poor earlier, but judge Chris Lee, who has a reputation for being the dissenting judge on split decisions, would still score the fight 48-47 for Felder, the other two all five rounds to none for RDA. Michael Bisping would react by saying maybe he should consider another career path.
Although no fighter wants to end his or her career with a loss, there is something harmonious about the way his career ended. In many ways, his last fight gave fans who were new to the sport a perfect exemplification of the kind of fighter that Felder was. Even in defeat, he showed up when nobody else would, understanding the script.
Felder was part of a seemingly fading and prestigious generation of “true” fighters. Someone like a Cowboy Cerrone, who is not afraid of anyone and who truly is willing to fight anyone, anywhere at any given time.
Felder proved this early in his career and up until his very last fight.
Furthermore, Felder was an easy fighter to work with, a good company man, who understood his role within the organization was bigger than himself. He was willing to take fights on short notice, not only to advance his own career but also to keep the UFC running like the well-oiled machine that it is. He cared for his teammates, as he once famously left the commentary team during a card to corner a fight. His interactions with fans were entertaining and one could tell that he did not take his fans for granted.
In the same way, whenever he spoke to the press, he was respectful and his answers were honest and sincere. He was not the kind of fighter or person to make excuses, but rather he would admit is mistakes.
Thankfully, MMA fans will still see Felder a fair amount outside the octagon, as he will continue to commentate for the UFC.
In an era where trash talk is king and fighters seem to always be demanding things from Dana White and the UFC, Paul Felder’s legacy will stand out and live on as an example of how to be a professional fighter who is the perfect company man, teammate, and all-around genuinely nice person.
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