“I won’t fight past my expiration date,” Paul Felder believes that his time has come


“I won’t fight past my expiration date,” Paul Felder believes that his time has come

Paul Felder

Paul Felder has decided that he will not be ‘that’ fighter who fights past his prime and let the people criticise him. The lightweight veteran has realised that his time has come to hang his gloves.

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Felder decided to call time off of his fighting career at UFC Vegas 27. The Irishman decided to hang up his gloves for good yesterday. The ranked lightweight fighter also explained in detail what led to this huge decision. Paul made an appearance at the post-fight conference to give out his retirement statement.

“I really waited until I knew,” Felder said at the post-fight conference. “After the [Dan] Hooker fight, it was kind of emotional and I lost the fight and I’m far away from home and it was a struggle. But then I did find that fire again when I got the Rafael dos Anjos fight,” he said to the media. The Irish dragon explained that it was the back-to-back losses that got him thinking about retirement.

“I went back and did camps and I was helping Sean Brady get ready for fights and I was hitting pads, I was lifting again, I was doing all those things and just slowly over time I started drifting back towards doing my own things and really just loving doing this triathlon stuff on my own, having time, seeing my daughter every day after school, dropping her off at school. Training in my own little pain cave at home in the garage and getting stuff done.”

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“I don’t think I’m going to get the belt,” says Paul Felder

Paul Felder RDA
Paul Felder vs RDA

Paul Felder said that he was also offered a new contract before his fight against RDA but he did not wish to sign it given he had no drive to fight. Losing that spark to get back in the octagon, got Felder to think about retirement. “I don’t think I’m going to get to the belt. I think this is the first time I finally think that after those two losses in a row, watching guys like ‘Jacare’ [Souza] break their arm, watching guys like ‘Cowboy’ [Cerrone] fight five more fights than I think they should,” he said.

“I’m not going to be that guy. I’ve said from the very beginning of this sport, I won’t be that guy that fights past his expiration date and I think it’s here. I think it’s a touch early but I’d rather it be a touch early than a touch late,” he further explained. Paul does not want to fight even after he is past his prime and has no passion to get back into the octagon. We at Firstsportz wish him a bright future post-retirement.

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