Paul Felder: True Grit
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We often spend our time as analysts celebrating the technical brilliance of elite fighters. We spend so much of our time watching footage, breaking down their games, discussing their weaknesses, and predicting the outcomes of their upcoming fights. We discuss their place in the short history of our sport, how they match up in hypothetical bouts with other greats, and marvel as they display their superiority over their contemporaries, fight in and fight out.
Paul Felder is not the best fighter to ever step in the cage, nor is he ever mentioned in those discussions, and that’s okay. Too often, we spend all of our time and energy focusing on the undeniably elite and great fighters. We don’t stop to appreciate the other aspects of the sport that make us love it - the heart, toughness, and grit of the men and women populating MMA. That’s not to say we don’t get to see that in our great fighters as well. Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero and Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes are perfect examples of fights that are both elite and display plenty of toughness and heart. But they also had the technical skill, savvy, and capabilities to guide them through those moments of adversity when necessary. When a fighter is outclassed, outgunned, and still fighting, there’s something to that. The will to keep pushing and fighting, when there’s seemingly no hope, is something special I think.
When you think of fighters who personify that quality, Paul Felder needs to be at the top of the list. His toughness, willingness to not only fight anyone, but to do so at distinct disadvantages in and out of the cage is something that we don’t get to see every day. From surviving the clutches of Charles Oliveira’s D’arce (and an cracking illegal knee in the process to boot), to winning his rematch with Edson Barboza, walking him down and walking through sickening body strikes to gut out a razor thin split decision. To be clear, I am not recommending fighters take fights on short notice, fight consistently through crazy injuries, etc. These are things only a maniac does, and frankly it is what makes Paul Felder one of the few people that embodies the term company man - in all the best ways possible. Beaten, bloodied, and battered, The Irish Dragon never quit, always bit down on his mouthpiece, and pressed forward. It says something when the lone stoppage loss on his record is a TKO via doctor stoppage from a cut that….well I think it’s best to show rather than tell.
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To be clear, this is not an attempt to diminish Felder’s skills. The version of Felder we saw against RDA, and indeed his last few fights, is the best version yet. He was able to fight off the majority of RDA’s takedown attempts, was contending with him at range for much of the fight, and was able to force RDA to concede the center of the cage at times, moving forward behind his strikes, working to limit RDA’s movement with leg kicks, and scoring hard counters as RDA entered into range. While he was unable to stop RDA’s control in the clinch, he did land a fair amount of his own damaging strikes. His 10 years as a professional fighter, more than half of them spent in the UFC, have given him a wealth of experience which he applies in his fights. Against RDA, he used every tool he’s acquired to put on a valiant display against an all-time great. A great who was dropping back to the weight class he once ruled, looking better than he had in a long time. Felder, on five days’ notice, forced a grueling five-round affair out of him. Wonky scorecard for Felder aside, he clearly lost that fight to RDA, but it’s fair to say he’s earned the respect of the MMA community. Before this fight, Paul gave a moving tribute to his father, and said, “there’s not much RDA can do to me tonight…I don’t care”. He showed that in this fight, giving everything he had to the last moment.
From the moment the fight began, we saw RDA look much more like his old self, using the dual-pronged rear kick and rear hand attack, landing both quiet frequently throughout the fight. Felder was forced to fight off the backfoot almost immediately, and RDA was able to keep Felder’s back to the fence, giving him openings to shoot for takedowns as well as control Felder in the clinch, landing hard elbows and knees. Felder fought back, throwing hard shots when he had space to try and back RDA off of him. At no point in the first two rounds did it feel like Felder was out of the fight, but by round three, the pattern was set. Felder would hold his own, but there was a distinct edge for RDA in his ability to control Felder. The clinch and takedowns were a safety blanket that RDA had, which Felder did not.
Round 3 was a turning point for Felder, and the clearest round of the fight to that point for RDA. Controlled on the fence and on the ground for over half the round, it was quite clear the fight was slipping away from Felder, and considering only one of these men had been actively training for a fight, this did not favor The Irish Dragon. Duke Rufus told him as much in the corner, urging Felder to come forward and telling him he needed to work for the finish, which Felder obliged. In what was his best round of the fight, Felder pushed RDA back, throwing hard strikes whenever RDA stepped into range, a hair trigger on his punches and counters. There was nothing particularly subtle in his entries, it was Felder forcing himself into the meat grinder that had taken 3 rounds off him, walking through RDA’s punches and piercing body kicks. Unfortunately, Felder, unable to sustain it, was pushed back to the fence and RDA once again began to work him over, grinding him with strikes and takedown attempts on the cage. Felder is visibly tired, frustrated, and time is ticking away.
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With 1:08 remaining in the round, Felder, having reversed RDA to get his back to the fence, separate from the clinch. He once more forces himself forward, swinging punches that look more labored with each successive attempt. RDA is tagging him in between his strike attempts, and cracks him with a left hand that busts open Felder’s forehead. It does not deter him, and he blasts RDA off his feet with a perfectly timed reactive double leg. Despite his best efforts though, the round would end with RDA in control and battering him against the fence once more.
It’s the 5th round and Felder, once more a bloody mess and exhausted, had every reason to try and just make it out of that round absorbing as little damage as possible. He didn’t need to force exchanges or try one last ditch effort to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. There was little chance he’d make it happen now anyway right? RDA was a cardio machine, had controlled the vast majority of the fight, and was showing no signs of slowing down either. Felder came out swinging anyway, and it wouldn’t matter. RDA would diffuse his attempts to strike at a distance, and controlled nearly the entire round in the clinch and on the ground, battering Felder further and ending the fight with Felder turtled, reigning punches down as the final horn sounded, and RDA would have his hand raised in victory.
RDA is going to be taking a spot in the LW top 10 rankings and Felder, now 36 and another grueling and damage filled fight down, is further away from that top 5 spot. Felder says he still has the fire to keep going, and I believe he does. It takes a special kind of fighter to go through what he did, when less than a week prior he was supposed to simply be commentating the fight. It takes a special kind of fighter to have a wild brawl after moving up in weight on 9 days notice against Mike Perry, breaking his arm in the first round, and still taking him to a split decision. It takes a special kind of fighter to gut out a victory with less than 30 seconds left after your opponent punctures your lung and collapses it.
Paul Felder is not the best fighter in the world, or even one of the best, but he is one who deserves the admiration of fans that are usually reserved for the greats of our sport. Paul Felder is a special kind of fighter.