There is still a chance that Paul Felder’s short-term future could involve retirement after his UFC on ESPN+41 main event against Rafael dos Anjos.
Following his loss to Dan Hooker in February, Paul Felder was seriously contemplating retirement, and there had been no strong rumblings about when or whom Felder would fight next. Then, like a burst of dragon fire, the answers to both questions were revealed after Islam Makhachev withdrew from his main event bout against Rafael dos Anjos. Paul Felder has come forward to save the day, and this Irish superhero might ride off into the sunset if the ending of UFC on ESPN+41 is a happy one.
“I say 50-50,” Felder told ESPN when asked about his chances of retiring Saturday. “I was thinking about that. What a way to just be like, ‘Boom! Mic drop.’
“(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.”
Whether Paul Felder decides to retire after his main event bout against Rafael dos Anjos or not, he knows that he doesn’t have much time as a competitor left. And should Felder defeat dos Anjos and opt to continue fighting, he expects to see a big shiny name next to his for his next fight.
“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?”
Paul Felder is currently the #7-ranked lightweight in the world, so with a win Saturday night over Rafael dos Anjos, he could definitely get his wish after coming through for the company in its time of need.
Who do you think Paul Felder should fight next if he defeats Rafael dos Anjos on Saturday and continues fighting?
