Paul Felder talks accepting Rafael dos Anjos fight on five days’ notice | Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show

hello there everyone it's ariel helwani here on this monday evening for a special breaking news edition of the helwani show and we're being joined by a man who is the talk of the mma world this evening you know earlier today on dc and helwani dc and i were sort of hypothesizing who would step up on short notice to fight rafael dos sanchos in just five days time in las vegas we didn't mention paul felder but he was the answer to that question there he is the man who will be fighting rda five days notice this saturday in the main event of ufc fight night at the apex it's the one and only paul felder who's joining us with his beautiful daughter ashling in philadelphia tonight first off paul thank you so much for doing this i appreciate it and good on you my friend oh thanks man um yeah it's been it's it's been a quite a day as you can only imagine you know there's a lot of things to get put in place before i even get out to vegas but i was on the treadmill running getting you know i've been training for a triathlon and uh i've been doing this for months now and staying in shape still hitting pads still doing mma on the side but nothing serious my body feels really fresh and it was a spontaneous decision and we talked some things out and we we made it work but don't don't get me wrong i'm nervous i'm just gonna go in there and try to spoil the party okay so i'd love to get the timeline here do you call them do they call you and if so when does this actually start so i talked to butler my manager obviously the other night and we talked about we talked about putting our name in the hat and i was like you know what man now forget about it like let's not even if they need me they'll come to us and then maybe it'll be something that i'll really actually consider and sure enough i wake up today i swam this morning and i was on the treadmill doing a run and butler starts facetiming me and i knew i was like oh man so i said a minute let me check my weight let me finish this run um i had a nice gatorade with me too and i couldn't i couldn't drink the gatorade at all so um yeah then i i came home i showered i talked to christine i i thought about it and then uh you know i decided that with everything going on in the world and all the 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 day let's go get paid let's have fun you're fighting a legend and uh what what do i have to lose how much did you weigh when you got off the treadmill now that i will not tell you you know that much uh but i am if you've been following any of my stories and stuff i've been 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 mean i'll give you that i'm in the 70s so i with some time and water loading and some dehydration i'll be fine you have a history at 170 he has a history at 170. why not just do this at welterweight i think he really wants to be fighting the top guys at 155 to make his comeback and give himself a chance and uh that was kind of one of the stipulations you know obviously we talked about catchweights but i know for main events if possible they like to keep it at the weight class and that was one of the things can you think you can make it and um it's not gonna be fun but i'm gonna make it okay so speaking of main events we've we've seen some situations in this pandemic where a main event has fallen through comey gets bumped up but it's a three-round main event why is this a five-round main event and you're taking it on five days notice um because i like five round fights um if you're gonna do a main event i wanna do it right and uh you know that's what he's been scheduled to do so yeah five rounds it's i'm excited to do another five rounds especially with somebody like rda it's man this is it this is an experiment you know what we're gonna see my my brain is fresh my body is fresh i'm not taking beatings and sparring like i normally do but i'm still tank staying technically sharp and staying very fit so we'll see and that's just you know i know i'm nearing the end of my career soon and 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 in 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 uh you know if it doesn't go my way then you i i i saved the day and i'm going in there to try to win so we'll see more to that point last time we saw you in action was back in february great fight against dan hooker and afterwards you hinted at maybe this would be the end in large part due to the fact that you want to spend more time with your daughter ashling and not go away for training camps in a way this is almost the perfect scenario for you right because you didn't have to go away five days you'll be done with this in less than a week right yeah i mean that's one of the things i said normally you know fighting kind of wears on my mind quite a bit and the weight cut is really big and i i start stressing out i'm in milwaukee for eight weeks then i'm in fight week for a week and i'm just missing home and i just want it to all be done whereas this is like all right well let's go do the damn thing enjoy fight week enjoy being the main event again and just kind of try to stay as relaxed and calm as possible and i know how to fight i mean this is what i've been doing since i was a little kid so i'm not too worried that i haven't had a full training camp um it's not ideal to game plan for such a stud like rda even though he's he's been on a skit i don't care this guy's got my respect so at what time today on monday did you kind of make this official what time do you think i said yes four four-ish and east coast time um and i had no idea it was going to kind of be announced and thrown out there as quickly as it was and then i just start getting hit up by my mom didn't even know uh i didn't even call marion felder because i didn't even want to have that conversation on what she says you were retired you were done you weren't gonna do this anymore and i was like mom it's i'm gonna look back on these things when i'm finally done but this this i really base a lot of things on how i feel and just instincts and something was telling me screw it man just let's do this it's one thing you know so the mma community is buzzing you're getting tons of respect but here we are talking around 9 15 p.m eastern time on monday night what is going through the mind and body of a person who just accepted a fight on five days notice in a ufc main event against a former champion like can you put us into your body right now what are the the the nerves the butterflies the the butt like what does this feel like so it's it's a lot of things right and they come things come and go so when i first agreed to it i was like yes like i'm stepping up this is crazy then there was remorse or not remo like regret and what am i doing i started feeling like i was having an anxiety attack then i went hit pads and got a really hard workout in and sweat and just felt that that fire again i felt hyped up i was picturing the fight i was picturing him and then you know you get more regret in the car you're drinking water and you gotta pee and it's uh it's been back and forth and it'll probably be that way up until i leave the octagon in the apex when you leave to las vegas leaving tomorrow early afternoon and i gotta go i gotta quarantine get tested then i got medicals i gotta get done but uh we'll get it done will you have your regular coaches with you duke will be there um i think he's going to be when is bellator this weekend thursday perfect yeah he's cornering sergio and he's meeting me on friday so i'll have duke friday and saturday for the fight um i got uh jared gordon's gonna be out there coming out there for me so he gets to return the favor he doesn't have to pay me my 10 percent anymore my just corner me um eric nix down to help he's out there and then i'll probably just have brian butler my manager as the the fourth i'm not going to really need a fourth especially with everybody with things going on and and the pandemic i don't want to try to scraggle up other guys that couldn't go my buddy ryan gaffarra was able to go too if he needed it so i'm sure my coaches henzo gracie philly and daniel gracie and those guys if i need them i'll get them we're figuring it all out now and you were supposed to be the color analyst for this card right the desk and color and then and work the contender series on tuesday which i hope they don't plan on having me do because every time they schedule me for uh an event that close to a fight i'm usually in the hospital afterwards so i hope they're scheduling in some hospital time for this one hopefully not um i'm just wondering yeah have you watched a lot of tape on rda as you were preparing to be the color analyst first fight and since agreeing to the fight have you now watched again with a different you know with a different i haven't re-watched anything since agreeing to the fight because i've been just running all over you know creation trying to figure this stuff out but yeah i mean i i i've i've studied this guy i've first of all come up watching him and helped cowboy prepare when he fought him and you know i've seen him when he fought anthony pettis who was a teammate of mine now uh yeah and i will probably on the flight i'll watch a couple fights and then i don't do too much of that duke's already sending me he's got ideas uh all my coaches have ideas so i let a lot of them do the really intense film study and going back and breaking things down for me i'll probably watch one or two of his last fights again and then go fight him what makes you more anxious the the way cut to come in the next few days or the actual fight itself i mean i'm pretty nervous for the fight right i'm not gonna lie i'm not one of those athletes that sits here and and sugar coats it and tries to puff my chest out i mean i'm nervous you know i've taken this fight on short notice and uh i'm probably more nervous for that the weight cut is gonna it sucks no matter what so if you've got 10 weeks to get ready for it or five days to get ready for it that sucks for those last five pounds is gonna suck no matter what no matter how long i prepared for it it did seem like you were inching closer to coming back were you on the road to coming back like were there talks of anything else going on maybe later this year early next year um or or was it completely stagnant no it was pretty stagnant um i had said those things in fight island where i was very interested in fighting michael chandler for his debut and then that kind of just looked like it went a whole nother direction with he's talking about tony ferguson and maybe gaichy and all these other guys and seem to have no interest really in uh in fighting me so i kind of just slid to the side and kind of got quiet for for a while there and just focused on myself and and training and doing my own thing and i'm not really worried about when it was going to come i figured if something juicy really pops up and they really need me to come back and want me to come back then they'll they'll let me know i kind of stopped hounding them about it and then this opportunity came up and so you're preparing for a triathlon in march yeah and i still plan on uh training for that triathlon after this fight is done and um yeah i was training for my first 70.3 challenge miami which is uh like the other big major triathlon event other than iron man obviously everybody know it's it's the same distance as doing an iron man but it's called challenge miami uh march march 14th i think it is and uh yeah 70.3 so it's uh a 1.2 mile swim a 56 mile bike ride and then a 13.1 half marathon mile run and and why did you decide to do this well because i was trying to figure out what am i going to do when i do actually decide to step away from fighting and i retire officially i'm still competitive i still love working out and having a goal-driven you know training schedule and um so one one morning i got up before everybody else i just looked and my man lionel sanders who's a canadian pro triathlete and one of the best uh iron man guys out there he he's like i'm going to do this one and this seems like a good one for you to do and it gives you plenty of time so i went on the website and i'm registered like i'm already signed up for it wow um okay just a couple more and then i'll let you go what are the chances saturday is your final fight i say 50 50. 50 50. do those odds increase if you win i mean i was thinking about that i mean what a way to just be like boom yes like drop so yeah they probably do actually they probably do increase if i lose then i might want to have to uh get back in there for one more it might eat away at me just kind of like the hooker fight did i was ready to move on and then it's like you're still still haven't proven you know quite what i'm capable of what i love so much about this is that for a guy who you know never got the belt yet in the ufc has been searching for that big moment always did things the right way respected by everyone no one says a bad word about you it's nice to see you get this moment and to see the mma community shower you with praise today so i know it's not the title fight that you've dreamed of but i'm surely you're seeing everyone you know tip their cap to you this has to feel nice right it's it's pretty awesome man you know to to have the recipe these guys that call their fights i i really love being able to sit back and be on the other side of the table for these athletes and uh to kind of show up on a horse like this and be like all right you know what let's i got i got at least a couple more in win with you guys and ride out there so everybody on the car that's with me it's like let's go make some money let's go do this let's put on a show and uh i'm coming for hell man you guys know that it doesn't matter how long i prepared you put some gloves on me and put me in front of a guy that wants to knock me out with my family watching at home i'm gonna try to beat his ass hopefully they're taking care of you yeah everybody's not we're taken care of okay and last but not least please tell me you are keeping the stash for saturday that i mean i can't believe i waited till the end of the interview to bring it up i i'm mesmerized by it it's phenomenal wow uh please tell me you're keeping it listen hollywood has been in need of the next tom selleck and i just wanted to make it clear that when i do retire and put the gloves in officially hollywood needs to start getting at me because i've been talking about this and talking about this and i'm i get no phone calls i've got no email so i'm going to grow a nice mustache for movember it is men health awareness month i'm going to rock this it's also pancreatic cancer awareness month my father passed away my first muay thai coach can pass away from pancreatic cancer and unfortunately one of our favorite shows we watch as a family here is we watch jeopardy almost every single night and to lose alex trebek to the same horrible cancer what what better reason to rock a stash you can't make fun of me now because now i made it clear why i have the mustache now does he have a mustache rda well right now he has he does have so i'm i'm putting this offer out to rda if he gets to see this brother let's fight mustaches as well oh stash it up both of you versus stash that so yeah you got like the ron burgundy clint eastwood not clint eastwood uh chuck norris versus the uh what's the guy from queen um freddie mercury yes i love it i love it and for a good reason a good cause with a with a with a great story behind it uh this is a beautiful thing i'm sure you're being pulled in a million different directions paul i know you're you're rolling your eyes easy for me sitting it's a beautiful thing but uh hey man so much respect for you and i think i speak for everyone when i say that so give him hell win or lose you saved the day so well done yeah just gotta make this weight first first first and foremost good luck with that no gatorade thanks for watching espn on youtube for live streaming sports and premium content subscribe to espn plus

Channel: ESPN MMA

Views: 225,511

Rating: 4.9387865 out of 5

Keywords: paul felder, paul felder rafael dos anjos, rda felder, felder ufc, felder vs rda, paul felder interview, paul felder ufc, felder vs dos anjos, rafael dos anjos, rda ufc, rda vs paul felder, #ufcvegas14, ufc fight night, ufc news, ufc preview, ufc interview, mma news, paul felder ariel helwani, helwani interview, helwani show, helwani mma show, helwani ufc, ariel helwani, helwani felder, espn mma paul felder, espn ufc, espn mma, mma espn, ufc espn, ufc, mma, fight, espn

Id: T19OtPqRnyw

Length: 17min 10sec (1030 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 09 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/SilverLimp9568]

So glad Felder decided to not hang up the gloves yet

[u/fahrenheit1221]

We really don’t deserve the Irish Dragon. He’s an everyman, but at the same time he is like no man.

[u/cheap-beers]

That stache is fucking dirty. I hope RDA still has that porno stache too

[u/kwilaon]

Porn stache RDA > porn stache felder

[u/dattrippinlyfe]

This Saturday on ESPN+.... STACHE CLASH!!

[u/Shane4114]

my boy from philly, love paul

[u/secretbil]

Felder is a savage, but even savages have to answer to their mama

[u/tuba_dude07]

The last time Paul fought, it was the night after my wedding and i stayed up after the ceremony with my ipad to watch that war between him and Hooker. I'll always remember that fight to cap off a great day for me.

[u/jacobsaggypoo]

I’d say Paul Felder is a top 5 toughest guy in the ufc. Maybe even #1. The only people I can think of off the top of my head that are even close are Tony and Thiago