UFC lightweight and color commentator Paul Felder has weighed in on the Stephen A. Smith hoopla.
Stephen A., who is recognized as the most popular personality on ESPN, drew the ire of many within the MMA community. He appeared on the post-UFC 246 edition of SportsCenter along with Joe Rogan. During the segment, Stephen A. blasted Donald Cerrone’s performance against Conor McGregor, calling it “atrocious” and he even said it appeared Cerrone “gave up.”
Cerrone was stopped by McGregor in the first round last month. It only took McGregor 40 seconds to put Cerrone away. “Cowboy” was quickly dazed by some heavy shoulder strikes.
Felder Talks Stephen A.’s Comments
MMAFighting.com‘s Damon Martin reached out to Felder and “The Irish Dragon” gave his take on Stephen A.’s assessment of “Cowboy’s” performance.
“It did bother me, and I think it bothered all of the MMA community who know who Donald Cerrone is,” Felder told MMA Fighting. “That would be like me showing up at a basketball game and talking about LeBron [James], saying the other team sucked, as opposed to LeBron and his team killing it and having a fantastic game.
‘Cowboy’ didn’t go in there to lose. He went in there to win and put on a show. I’ve trained with the guy and I’ve known the guy for years and years, and that is not in him to go ‘oh well, I didn’t have a good night, I’m just going to go and get beat up tonight.’ For anyone who’s never trained MMA, you just don’t understand how hard this sport is.”
Felder is scheduled to take on Dan Hooker this Saturday night (Feb. 22). The bout will headline UFC Auckland inside the Spark Arena. Felder is hoping to extend his winning streak to three and emerge as a potential title contender.
Be sure to join MMA News this weekend for live coverage of UFC Auckland. We’ll be bringing you live results, highlights, and all the post-fight goodness you’ll need.
