Paul Felder Is ’50-50’ On Retirement After Rafael Dos Anjos Fight
Paul Felder is considering walking away from the sport after his fight with Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC Vegas 14 this coming weekend. ‘The Irish Dragon’ stepped in on five days’ notice to face Dos Anjos after Islam Makhachev was forced out of Saturday’s main event slot due to a staph infection.
Speaking to ESPN ahead of his late-notice fight, Felder revealed he is 50-50 about his fighting future after UFC Vegas 14.
“I say 50-50,” Felder responded when asked about his chances of retiring on Saturday night. “I was thinking about that. What a way to just be like, ‘Boom! Mic drop.’
Felder says he is more likely to retire if he beats the former lightweight champ.
“(The odds will) probably do increase (if I win),” he continued. “If I lose, then I might want to have to get back in there for one more. It might eat away at me, just kind of like the Hooker fight that I was ready to move on. And then it’s like, ‘No.’ I still haven’t proven quite what I’m capable of.”
The 35-year-old also notes that a win over Dos Anjos may provide him with another big fight that is too good to turn down.
“I know I’m nearing the end of my career soon, and this, I think, it’s win-win for me,” Felder said. “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?
“If it doesn’t go my way, then I saved the day. I’m going in there to try to win.”
Do you think Paul Felder should retire or keep fighting?
