Edson Barboza vs. Paul Felder Rematch Eyed For UFC 242 In Abu Dhabi

The UFC 242 pay-per-view (PPV) card in Abu Dhabi is shaping up rather nicely. Apart from a lightweight title fight main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier, another big 155-pound bout is eyed for the card. MMA Junkie reports that a rematch between Edson Barboza and Paul Felder is being looked at for the […]

The post Edson Barboza vs. Paul Felder Rematch Eyed For UFC 242 In Abu Dhabi appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The UFC 242 pay-per-view (PPV) card in Abu Dhabi is shaping up rather nicely.

Apart from a lightweight title fight main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier, another big 155-pound bout is eyed for the card. MMA Junkie reports that a rematch between Edson Barboza and Paul Felder is being looked at for the September show.

The pair initially fought back in 2015, where Barboza took home a unanimous decision victory. Barboza comes off a big knockout loss to Justin Gaethje in March. As for Felder, along with juggling UFC analyst/commentating duties, he comes off a unanimous decision victory over James Vick in February.

UFC 242 goes down on September 7 from The Arena, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Check out the updated card below:

UFC 242 Card

  • Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Dustin Poirier
  • Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Curtis Blaydes
  • Islam Makhachev vs. Davi Ramos
  • Diego Ferreira vs. Mairbek Taisumov
  • Belal Muhammad vs. Takashi Sato
  • Ottman Azaitar vs. Teemu Packalen
  • Bruno Silva vs. Khalid Taha
  • Muslim Salikhov vs. Nordine Taleb
  • Omari Akhmedov vs. Zak Cummings
  • Don Madge vs. Magomed Mustafaev
  • Joanne Calderwood vs. Andrea Lee
  • Edson Barboza vs. Paul Felder

What do you think about a rematch between Barboza and Felder in Abu Dhabi?

The post Edson Barboza vs. Paul Felder Rematch Eyed For UFC 242 In Abu Dhabi appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Edson Barboza vs. Paul Felder Reported for UFC 242

Another significant lightweight title fight has been added to UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi when Edson Barboza takes on Paul Felder, as reported by MMA Junkie. This will be a rematch of a bout that occurred four years ago, which saw Edson Barboza pick up the un…

Another significant lightweight title fight has been added to UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi when Edson Barboza takes on Paul Felder, as reported by MMA Junkie. This will be a rematch of a bout that occurred four years ago, which saw Edson Barboza pick up the unanimous decision victory. Four years later, Paul Felder is […]

The post Edson Barboza vs. Paul Felder Reported for UFC 242 appeared first on MMA News.

Justin Gaethje Says Paul Felder’s Challenge Was “Unprofessional”

Justin Gaethje believes Paul Felder was out of line. Gaethje shared the Octagon with Edson Barboza on March 30. The bout was action-packed but it only lasted two minutes and 30 seconds. Gaethje knocked Barboza out cold with one punch. Gaethje Criticize…

Justin Gaethje believes Paul Felder was out of line. Gaethje shared the Octagon with Edson Barboza on March 30. The bout was action-packed but it only lasted two minutes and 30 seconds. Gaethje knocked Barboza out cold with one punch. Gaethje Criticizes Felder Felder served as an analyst on the ESPN+ desk. During the UFC […]

The post Justin Gaethje Says Paul Felder’s Challenge Was “Unprofessional” appeared first on MMA News.

Justin Gaethje Still Miffed By Paul Felder’s ‘Unprofessional Move’

Justin Gaethje is usually a mild-mannered guy until he steps in the Octagon. But he is not cool with Paul Felder’s ‘unprofessional move’ following UFC Philadelphia. It was Gaethje’s moment, or that’s how he felt. He had just knocked out Edson Barboza in less than three minutes in the main event of UFC Philadelphia. “The […]

The post Justin Gaethje Still Miffed By Paul Felder’s ‘Unprofessional Move’ appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Justin Gaethje is usually a mild-mannered guy until he steps in the Octagon. But he is not cool with Paul Felder’s ‘unprofessional move’ following UFC Philadelphia.

It was Gaethje’s moment, or that’s how he felt. He had just knocked out Edson Barboza in less than three minutes in the main event of UFC Philadelphia. “The Highlight,” while making his media rounds, found himself sitting next to Felder, Tyron Woodley and Karyn Bryant at the ESPN analyst desk. Felder felt the need to interject his name into the conversation. Gaethje didn’t like that.

“I just think it was an unprofessional move on Paul’s part,” Gaethje said on The MMA Hour (via MMAFighting). “I think he knows that. He’s there in a different status than me. I was a fighter that night and he was an employee or a staff member, and I was just really caught off guard. I didn’t even know what was happening until, like, the second time, I think when (ESPN broadcaster) Karyn (Bryant) brought it up and I was like, ‘oh.’ I bet that was probably like 17 minutes from the moment I stepped out of the ring, probably less than that … at least 15, whatever.”

“But dude, I’m telling you, I hadn’t seen the fight. From the moment they tell you that you have about four minutes until you’re going to go into that hallway to make that walk to the Octagon, that’s the last time you get to kinda process anything. And then after that, win or lose, it’s over. You can’t process anything. It’s a million miles an hour, a thousand words a second, you’re trying to take in everything, trying to not miss specific things, trying to do interviews, trying to make the decisions that you need to make to not sound like a fool.”

“It’s some crazy emotions that you’re running through, so you have to control your emotions and all that stuff.”

For his part, Gaethje handled the awkward encounter admirably. He even threw a dig back at Felder, saying “You don’t want that to happen to you.”

Still, the most violent man in MMA brings up an interesting point. Felder essentially did the same thing at UFC Lincoln after Gaethje knocked out James Vick. “The Irish Dragon” was the color commentator/post-fight interviewer on that night as well. According to Gaethje, that was the first time he tried to steal his thunder.

“Now, after the fact, that’s two times in a row [that] he’s gotten that opportunity,” Gaethje said. “He got to think about it for, like, who knows how long he thought about it, asking me those two questions on those two nights. I didn’t get one second to process that, and he got probably like three weeks to go over that. I don’t know, whatever. So yeah, it’s just not fair, for one, and it’s not what I’m there for.”

The post Justin Gaethje Still Miffed By Paul Felder’s ‘Unprofessional Move’ appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Karyn Bryant & Paul Felder Defend Post-Fight Interview With Justin Gaethje

Justin Gaethje was upset with Karyn Bryant and Paul Felder following his first-round knockout of Edson Barboza in the main event of UFC Philadelphia. According to both Bryant and Felder, they were just doing their job. “The Irish Dragon” was quick to point out that he had called for the winner of the UFC Philadelphia […]

The post Karyn Bryant & Paul Felder Defend Post-Fight Interview With Justin Gaethje appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Justin Gaethje was upset with Karyn Bryant and Paul Felder following his first-round knockout of Edson Barboza in the main event of UFC Philadelphia.

According to both Bryant and Felder, they were just doing their job. “The Irish Dragon” was quick to point out that he had called for the winner of the UFC Philadelphia main event last month when he defeated James Vick.

“If I didn’t people would say I didn’t have the balls to say it to his face,” he wrote on Twitter. “Well I do and I did. He is a stud! And I want to fight the best.”

Indeed, Felder did call is shot while standing next to Jon Anik in the middle of the Octagon during his post-fight interview last month. Take a look see for yourself.

Felder is still a bit new to the analyst role, and as such he sought out his producers‘ opinion before proposing a possible fight with Gaethje. Once he got the thumbs up, Felder didn’t think any more about the legitimacy of his question.

“I feel like what I did was more respectful, because I mentioned his name,” Felder said. “His name has come out of my mouth when he’s not around, so when he’s there, it would be unprofessional and cowardly of me to not say the same thing to his face that I had already said on camera with the UFC.”

Felder made it clear that he isn’t mad at Gaethje for his perceived slight, however, the hateful tweets he has been getting seem to be coming from a misguided place.

“I get where Justin is coming from,” he said. “It’s just everybody else that needs to shut the (expletive) up. Justin is a fighter. He just knocked out an opponent – I might be like, ‘Hey, let me have my moment.’ That’s fine for him.”

“I had to do what I had to do, and he’s going to react the way he’s going to react. I have no problem with him being like, ‘They tried to steal my moment.’ Maybe we got a little carried away when it kept going on. But I just wanted to say, ‘I’d love to fight you. It’s going to happen now, or it’s going to happen later.’ That’s the part that I don’t see how it could be a big deal.”

Bryant indicated that the questions about matchmaking were initiated by the UFC. During the interview, Bryant brought up the rankings and how Felder and Gaethje’s names are right next to each other. It created a bit of an odd moment but Bryant insists it wasn’t malicious.

Gaethje was quick to point out his displeasure with the rankings.

“Now it is (at No. 8) because they keep dropping me down after winning,” Gaethje said.

Bryant replied, “You’re telling me that his spinning elbows and your style of fight wouldn’t make for…”

“You like this guy don’t you?” Gaethje continued. “Don’t get him beat up.”

“C’mon, now,” Felder interjected.

The post Karyn Bryant & Paul Felder Defend Post-Fight Interview With Justin Gaethje appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Paul Felder Details Horrific Collapsed Lung Injury

They don’t come much tougher than Paul Felder. The rising lightweight defeated James Vick in the co-main event of UFC Phoenix on February 17. But “The Irish Dragon” suffered some pretty significant damage from a knee to the abdomen late in the third round. “As soon as he hit me, I was like, holy sh*t, […]

The post Paul Felder Details Horrific Collapsed Lung Injury appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

They don’t come much tougher than Paul Felder.

The rising lightweight defeated James Vick in the co-main event of UFC Phoenix on February 17. But “The Irish Dragon” suffered some pretty significant damage from a knee to the abdomen late in the third round.

“As soon as he hit me, I was like, holy sh*t, that was a hard knee,” Felder said on The MMA Hour. “And I knew it was like 20 seconds left, I was looking at the clock. I thought I was ahead. I was like, ‘Man, just don’t let this dude knock you out, just don’t let this dude knock you out.’ Literally, all I was thinking.”

Felder knew he was in trouble as soon as the knee connected. However, he just thought it was some cracked ribs.

“I knew I busted my ribs is what I thought,” Felder said. “I thought I did some cartilage damage or maybe had like a little fracture.”

While doing post-fight interviews backstage, Felder starting to get short of breath. Luckily a UFC doctor stopped Felder on the way to the post-fight conference and suggested that he go to the hospital. When the doctors at a Phoenix-area hospital told Felder the extent of his injuries, he knew something was up.

“That’s when things got a little scary,” Felder said. “That’s when I realized I wasn’t going home the next morning.”

Felder had a collapsed lung due to a puncture from Vick’s knee.

Though he isn’t home yet, he is out of the hospital. The UFC did fly Felder’s family out to Phoenix to spend time with him. But he can’t fly back home to Philadelphia to Wednesday.

As for the fight itself, Felder couldn’t be happier with the outcome. With the win, he has now won four of his last five fights with the only loss coming to Mike Perry at welterweight. He closed with a long aside about his tough-as-nails fighting style and his spot at lightweight:

“I told everybody before this that I belonged in the goddam [lightweight] top 10. I fought the guy nobody wants to fight, even though he’s coming off the loss to Gaethje. He got exposed a little bit there that he’s a little chinny. But I didn’t even beat him that way. I didn’t catch with that one quote lucky shot. I beat him at a game that nobody thought I could beat him at. And that’s going to decision with somebody and showing that I’ve got the intelligence to hang with the best guys in this division.

“That’s what you’re gonna see more of from me. You’re always gonna see me fight my ass off. You’re gonna see a little more strategic approach now that I’m gonna be up there with the real big dogs in this division. But I’m coming for them, I’m telling you that right now. I’m not in this to sit back. I’m in this to make a run for the belt and that’s it. When that’s done, if that doesn’t seem plausible to me anymore, I’m retired.”

The post Paul Felder Details Horrific Collapsed Lung Injury appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.