Paul Felder was scheduled to commentate UFC on ESPN+ 41 on Saturday, but Islam Makhachev dropped out of the main event vs. Rafael dos Anjos, and on five days’ notice, Felder stepped up. “The Irish Dragon” didn’t ask for a catchweight, or three rounds instead of five, or more than his contracted purse; at the event media day he explained why.
That’s the reason they’re not here and I’m here, explained Felder, as transcribed by Damon Martin for MMA Fighting. Listen, you don’t get the things you want in life by being safe and by not taking risks. I’ve kind of made my career fighting the dangerous guys, doing the crazy things, going to other countries and fighting them in their backyards.
This is just another for the storybooks of the stupid stuff that I do throughout my career. It’s what I’ve made my career off of.
I want to make all the money and I want to get some extra money. You want to negotiate for bigger paychecks and extra stuff you can’t be like ‘but uhmm, it’s gotta be this, this and this.’ Then they’ll be like ‘OK, we’ll give you a catchweight, OK, we’ll give you three rounds, but you’re not getting anything else.’
If you want to get more out of it, you’ve got to be willing to do some stuff, too. So I was like all right, I’ll do ‘55, I’ll do five rounds, but I want this and here we are.
Mercifully, Felder had been training for a triathlon, so the 50-mile bike rides and 10 mile-runs left him well below his usual walkaround weight of 190, and made 156 within the realm of possibility.
I wouldn’t have done the ‘55 thing if I didn’t think that I could make the weight,” he said. “I was walking around pretty skinny. Let me tell you — this weight cut is better than that weight cut was [for a fight against Ross Pearson]. I had a four-week camp for Ross Pearson and barely made weight for that fight. This fight, I feel like it’s on a better track than that one.
I’m stepping in on five days’ notice to fight an absolute legend in RDA. If I lose and he takes my ranking, OK, then I know that maybe I’m not meant to be fighting for the title anyway. So that path is still there.
With a win, how can you argue to not give me a fight that I really want with one of these top guys and one of these exciting matchups at 155 pounds? For me, it just made sense.
The thing is as I get older, I work as a commentator, I see everything now. I know how this business works a lot more. I know that stepping up, I know that throwing down and fighting your balls off and going hard and not sloppy, not being a maniac out there but if you go for it, that stands out. Fighting people that they want you to fight, stands out. Putting on a show and performances are what sets you out. It’s not necessarily ‘what’s his ranking?’
If you go out there and you finish dudes or you look good going hard, look good on the feet, doing things like that, that’s what will get you what you want. That’s going to get you the bonuses. That’s what’s going to renegotiate your contracts better. Not sitting on the sidelines begging for the No. 5 guy, the No. 4 guy. So I had to put my money where my mouth is. I’ve been kind of saying that and here I am. I’m going to fight a guy who’s not ranked at 155 but he’s a former champion and it’s a main event. I don’t think that really matters here.
