Paul Felder will be in the commentary booth at UFC 280 in place of Joe Rogan
Paul Felder, former UFC fighter, will be replacing Joe Rogan in the commentary booth for UFC 280 this weekend. UFC 280 is one of MMA’s biggest events of this year but will be without its long-time voice, Rogan.
Rogan made his first appearance as part of the UFC production team in 1997 at UFC 12. Fighters such as Mark Coleman, Dan Severn, and Vitor Belfort, among others were competing at this event. Notably, Rogan was such a fan of this growing sport that he refused payment instead he just wanted to work on a project he was highly passionate about. He has been in and out of the UFC booth ever since. Typically Rogan will only do USA cards.
Former top-ranked UFC lightweight Paul Felder will take Rogan’s place at the upcoming UFC 280. Felder made his commentary debut in 2017, on FOX Sports, while he was still an active combatant. The UFC 280 main event will be a battle for the vacant UFC lightweight throne between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev. Felder, in fact, holds a 2017 victory over Brazil’s Oliveira.
For UFC 280, Paul Felder will be joined by the consistent voice of the UFC, Jon Anik, and UFC Hall of Fame fighter Daniel Cormier.
Felder is known for his animated and passionate reactions to fights. See below for a highlight reel of Paul Felder reacting to matches he has called.
Paul Felder retired from combat sports
The Philadelphia-born fighter only announced his retirement from UFC competition in 2021. ‘The Irish Dragon’ went through five wars as his last fights and lost three via close split decision. Despite his top-ten ranking at the time, Felder explains his reason for walking away from active UFC competition. He said:
“That spark that I need to fight, especially the way I fight, it just wasn’t there anymore. If I’m not even itching to get to training and get this stuff and getting fight offers. And the only reason it took this long is because I kind of gave everyone a chance to convince me. The UFC was really patient with me and called me several times. We had a conversation to see where my head was at, and we had this conversation twice recently, and the second one I called Sean (Shelby) and said, ‘I’m retiring this Saturday. I’m done.’”
Your commentary booth for UFC 280 will be Jon Anik, Paul Felder, and Daniel Cormier.
