Issue 140

April 2016

Paul Felder had his back against the wall After two defeats in a row, Yet he used personal and professional tribulation to fuel his revival.

Dialogue

Paul Felder, UFC lightweight

Alias: the irish dragon

Age: 31

Team: Renzo Gracie Philly

Record: 11-2

The noise of Paul Felder hitting pads backstage could be heard in the corridors of Boston’s TD Garden long before he stepped out to face Daron Cruickshank at UFC Fight Night 81. A look into his locker room revealed each strike had more venom than usual, too. After finding out his father had been diagnosed with cancer just days prior, January 17th 2016 had become the most important night of Felder’s fighting life.

Preparation for the fight with ‘The Detroit Superstar’ began like any other – grinding away at Renzo Gracie Philly, with head coach Daniel Gracie at the helm. But with his UFC tenure hanging in the balance following two straight defeats, it had to be the best fight camp of Paul Felder’s career. Then, a couple of weeks out, a bomb dropped.

The 31-year-old learnt his father had been diagnosed with the big C. Yet the crushing news gave Felder fresh perspective. He was now fighting for more than his job and himself, he was fighting for his family. Instead of crumbling, his focus became sharper and his motivation skyrocketed. 

The pressure to perform and give his family something to smile about lit a fire underneath ‘The Irish Dragon’. It ultimately led to him being able to dig deep and sink in a rear-naked choke and bag his first fight-winning submission.

“When we found out I didn’t know what to do, you never know how you’re going to react when someone that close to you has something so horrible going on,” Felder reveals. “I just tried to really hone it in and think, ‘No matter what I’m going to have to go through he’s going to have to go through so much more.’

“So when I would get tired in training or I was miserable during the weight cut I just really used thinking about my dad and my family – I have a daughter too. For the first time I really just thought this isn’t just about me, it’s about my family and it really hyped me up for the first time. 

“I rang my mom before the fight and texted my girlfriend moments before I walked out to the cage and said, ‘I love you guys and no matter what I will fight my ass off.’ That pumped me up more than ever. I had my corner remind me during the fight too that it wasn’t about me – it was about everyone else. I had that in the back of my mind. 

“It helps when I’m in there scrambling around and getting punched in the face. I was able to dig deep and pull it out because it motivated me and now the cancer is something we are dealing with. That’s why it was so important to get that win. Now I can spend time with my dad.” 

With his UFC campaign back on track following the eighth finish of his 11-2 career, Felder is looking to make a leap forward and challenge for a spot among the top 15 at 155lb. And the Philadelphian believes he can do it, because before he even dreamt of becoming ranked in MMA’s premier league, former number-one contender Donald Cerrone convinced him he has what it takes to make it. 

“He gave me a lot of confidence,” says Felder. “He handpicked me a couple of years ago to come and train with him. Then we became really good training partners and through that we have become friends.

“He really helped me find the confidence that I belonged in the UFC when I finally got that call. I had known him before I was in the UFC, but when I finally did he was like, ‘Hell yeah man, you have what it takes, why do you think I bring you out here to train with me? You’re tougher than a lot of people in the UFC. Just wait and see, you belong here.’ 

“More than anything he really gave me the mental capacity to hang in the UFC. It’s really overwhelming when you get called up. You kind of believe that you don’t belong here, you think like these guys are the best so it helps to have somebody that’s been there and done everything to be one of your mentors and one of your friends. On top of that he’s an amazing sparring partner. There’s always somewhere for me to go and train and get away if I need to.”

Although ‘Cowboy’ realized how tough the Gracie fighter was, Felder’s blue-collar work ethic was instilled in him from day one. Hailing from a working-class South Philadelphia neighborhood, he grew up fighting. He comes from a city full of tough people with a sparkling history of fighting prowess – so much so that Rocky Balboa has been immortalized in bronze at the city’s Museum of Art. 

“I grew up in the rougher end of the city and it was pretty poor,” he says. “We grew up on the streets playing games outside in the neighborhood so we would get into fights. We played football, baseball all different games and we fought over everything. We would run into a different corner of the neighborhood and they would fight us and we would fight them. 

“There was the projects beside us too, so it was non-stop. Something was always going on. You had to be tough. Everybody was going to beat you up or there was a chance you might get jumped by older kids. 

You just had to learn to scrap. It was just part of growing up.”

‘The Irish Dragon’ was bitten by the fight bug when he was 12. By the time he emerged from his teenage years, The Ultimate Fighter season one hit TV screens. And like so many other mixed martial artists from his generation, the UFC’s breakthrough moment would ultimately define Felder’s life.  

“When I was 12 I just got obsessed with any sort of martial arts movie, TV show, anything. It just spoke to me when I was younger so I begged my parents to get me karate lessons,” he says. 

“I got my wish and I got karate and taekwondo lessons and earned my second degree black belt in my twenties after getting my first when I was 16. Then when I was in college, the premier of TUF 1 dropped and I watched Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonner in the finale. From there I was like, ‘Oh s**t I need to do that.’ I started Muay Thai and before I knew it I was taking my first amateur fight.”

Felder’s fighting style has quickly made him a fan favorite. In five fights in the Octagon, he’s already earned a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus for his spinning back-fist knockout of Danny Castillo at UFC 182. And he shared ‘Fight of the Night’ honors for his battle with Edson Barboza at UFC on Fox 16. Getting the crowd out of their seats comes naturally.   

“The flashy stuff is who I am as a person and my personality in the cage too. I’m just one of those people where if you tag me, I just get mad and want to get you back even worse and that’s always how I’ve been. Even as a kid in taekwondo and karate matches I got kicked out of tournaments and got into real fights in competitions because I hit too hard or I wasn’t ‘point fighting’ safely enough. People like to see that I’m not afraid to take damage to give some.”

Strike and submit

Time for a first tapout 

Felder’s roots are in striking, but he feels his submission game is finally clicking. Cruickshank’s tap was the first he’d forced in his career. 

“I told Daniel Gracie and my teammates that I was going to submit this guy,” he says. “To get it for the first time is pretty awesome. The whole camp I just felt like I was finally getting it on the ground. 

“I was sweeping guys well and finding submissions from my back and positions I never used to. You may see more takedown attempts and tangles on the ground but you’re still going to see me come out and throw down. That’s just who I am.”Tread the boards

 Acting had to make way for fighting 

Fighters are probably the last people you’d expect to have any kind of thespian inclinations. But that’s exactly what Felder’s artistic outlet was before his UFC tenure began. 

He attended the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, and started working for theater groups across the city after he graduated in 2008. He starred in plays and gained critical recognition in reviews too in his formative fighting life. But a dual life as a theatrical actor and combatant didn’t mix too well.

“There were a few times when we were rehearsing where I would show up with a huge black eye from a head butt or something like that,” he says. “It looked like I put eye shadow on. I had bruised lips, swollen lips, my cauliflower ear would blow up and I’m supposed to be playing these parts that would never have a cauliflower ear or black eye in a million years. 

“I would have to put makeup on to cover up my bruises for the show. The directors said I couldn’t be fighting while I was doing a show. I said, ‘Ok, I’m just not going to be doing this stuff while I’m fighting.’”

Tread the boards

Acting had to make way for fighting 

Fighters are probably the last people you’d expect to have any kind of thespian inclinations. But that’s exactly what Felder’s artistic outlet was before his UFC tenure began. 

He attended the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, and started working for theater groups across the city after he graduated in 2008. He starred in plays and gained critical recognition in reviews too in his formative fighting life. But a dual life as a theatrical actor and combatant didn’t mix too well.

“There were a few times when we were rehearsing where I would show up with a huge black eye from a head butt or something like that,” he says. “It looked like I put eye shadow on. I had bruised lips, swollen lips, my cauliflower ear would blow up and I’m supposed to be playing these parts that would never have a cauliflower ear or black eye in a million years. 

“I would have to put makeup on to cover up my bruises for the show. The directors said I couldn’t be fighting while I was doing a show. I said, ‘Ok, I’m just not going to be doing this stuff while I’m fighting.’”