Former UFC lightweight contender, Paul Felder has outlined two potential scenarios which would see him snap his retirement from professional mixed martial arts — including a potential promotional return to his native Philadelphia — or a future showdown with former two-weight gold holder, Conor McGregor.
Felder, 17-6 as a professional, confirmed his retirement back in May during the broadcast of UFC Vegas 27 — citing his intention to concentrate on his career as an analyst and color commentator for the organization.
However, recently, speculation began to mount regarding a potential retirement snapping return for the 23 fight professional veteran, with the Roufusport mainstay fueling that fire back in October by claiming he missed competing and fighting “tremendously“.
“For the first time, in a very long time since retirement, I feel like since the triathlon season has slowed and there’s not a lot of races, that I’ve really had a chance to reflect on — that it’s over, that I’m not fighting anymore, and I’ve missed it tremendously,” Paul Felder told commentators Fitzgerald and Laura Sanko.
“I’ve started hitting pads and I’ve started doing stuff — now, that’s not to say that I’m making some comeback, but I’m definitely, gonna come home and train with Sean Brady and the guys a little bit. And I wanna see how I feel after a week of Sean Brady, Jeremiah Wells, Pat Sabatini, Andre Petroski, these guys that are all Philly guys in the UFC now, kick my ass and we’ll go from there.“
Felder last competed back in November of last year — replacing the withdrawing #4 ranked lightweight contender, Islam Makhachev in a UFC Vegas 14 main event bout with former champion, Rafael dos Anjos. Felder suffered a split decision loss to the Brazilian, and gained massive plaudits for his decision to replace Makhachev during fight week — as he was slated to serve in the commentary booth.
Paul Felder outlines two potential scenarios which would help entice him to make UFC return
Although a return has yet to come to fruition at the time of publication, Felder outlined two scenarios to MMA Junkie which would likely see him return — the first of which would be a showdown with McGregor.
“There’s two scenarios,” Paul Felder said. “Obviously, the ‘money fight’. For some reason, if Conor [McGregor] just hates my guts again and wants to fight me, ok, sure. I’ll throw on the old MMA gloves to get back in there to change my life and teach him a lesson, but other than that, no.“
The second scenario which would entice Felder to consider a return would be a return to his native Philadelphia for the UFC for an event.
“The other one was — Sean Brady actually texted me the other day and he’s like, ‘Would you come back out of retirement for a fight at the Wells Fargo with all of us?’” Paul Felder said. “Now we’ve got eight Philly guys or at least close to it [in the UFC]. [Andre] Petroski, the Daukaus brothers, Jeremiah Wells, [Pat] Sabatini, Bill Algeo is from the Pennsylvania area, right outside of Philly. That would be tough to turn down, but I don’t know when they’re coming back to the Wells Fargo and who would I fight — I don’t know.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)