Fight Study 81 – RDA vs. Felder (transcript) (Patreon)

UFC Vegas 14 will go down in the books as one of the few main events saved by a competitor stepping up at the last minute. In the main event, Rafael dos Anjos (RDA) beat Paul Felder by split decision, despite dominating most of the action (but more on that later). Sure, there were fight cards where the co-main events have been bumped up after the original headliner gets scratched or even match-ups where a fighter gets opponents switched to accommodate for someone else dropping out. This wasn’t the craziest of circumstances when it comes to fights changing at the last minute. Remember UFC 177? The original main event was the rematch between T.J. Dillashaw and Renan Barao. Unfortunately, Barao got hospitalized on the day of the weigh-ins and had to withdraw from the fight. Luckily for Dillashaw and the UFC, Joe Soto was on the card and was asked to fight Dillashaw for the title with the shortest of notices. At least he was prepared to fight that weekend, albeit against a different opponent and for three rounds instead of five.

Some of you may not be aware, but this isn’t Felder’s first time attempting to save a UFC card. He’s been a company man for quite some time. Back in 2018, geez why does it feel so much longer, UFC 223 was the mother of all cursed cards. The original main event was Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson. On April 1st, Tony Ferguson injured his knee and had to withdraw from the fight. It seemed like a cruel joke, but it was indeed real and the Ferguson vs Nurmagomedov fight was off. They asked then-featherweight champion, Max Holloway, to step up and save the card, so he flew out to New York to begin the process of weight cutting. Things didn’t get any better, since the New York Athletic Commission pulled Holloway from the match-up on the DAY OF THE WEIGH-INS. Now with even less time to scramble, the UFC tried to keep Nurmagomedov on the card by asking different fighters to step up.

First was Anthony Pettis, who had suddenly become available when his original opponent, Michael Chiesa, was removed from the card due to multiple cuts suffered from a broken bus window. Ah, did that jog your memory? Yes, this was the infamous team assault by McGregor and his goons against one of the UFC buses as they were leaving a press conference. Pettis now had no opponent and weighed in at 155.2 pounds on his first attempt. Since this was going to be a championship fight, the usual one-pound allowance was not granted to any fighter. With Pettis declining a second attempt, the UFC had two options: Al Iaquinta or Paul Felder. Felder made championship weight at 155 pounds. With such short notice, it didn’t seem as if the UFC could do any better. The New York Athletic Commission had other ideas. Since Felder was not ranked in the official UFC rankings, they deemed that the match-up could not continue. Iaquinta was eventually given the last-minute title fight and lost in a one-sided affair. In the fight preview, we wondered aloud why Felder was kept in the rankings despite his semi-retirement announcement that he made after the Dan Hooker fight. Just to connect the dots, the UFC wanted to make sure that if the Nevada Athletic Commission pulled the same stunt that the New York Athletic Commission did, they would be ready with a justification. But then again, this is the same commission that let McGregor vs Mayweather happen, so their concerns may have been overblown.

Perhaps it’s due to Felder’s background in theater that he’s aware of the ever-changing nature of live performances. Yes, he has been doing martial arts since childhood, but he’s also been involved in acting for quite some time, even getting a degree in it from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Felder takes the message of, “the show must go on” to heart. It’s too bad RDA was there to stop Felder’s heartwarming story of stepping up to the plate last minute.

Let’s not forget, RDA is a former lightweight champion that only left the 155-pound division after losses to Eddie Alvarez and Tony Ferguson. He wasn’t missing weight or getting outclassed. Even at welterweight, he never got finished. Michael Chiesa, Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman, and Colby Covington only pulled off decision wins, with no one coming close to stopping him on the feet or the ground. Outside of the TKO loss to Eddie Alvarez in 2016, the last time RDA was finished was due to a jaw injury in 2010. No matter how you slice it, RDA is a tough outing for anyone. The fight between him and Felder showed as much.

The beginning of the fight was a preview of how the rest of the rounds would go. RDA would use pressure, body kicks, and his left hand to control the striking portions of the fight until he got Felder in place long enough to time in some takedowns. Felder would land some decent strikes of his own. As noted in the preview, the elbows from Felder made another appearance and cut RDA. The southpaw lead left scored multiple times for RDA, and he took advantage of the normally slow starting Felder. As expected, Felder spent the first round feeling out RDA and getting into his rhythm. RDA isn’t the kind of fighter to take his foot off the gas, and he kept the pressure throughout the fight. By focusing on combination punches into takedowns, RDA made sure that Felder was never too comfortable and on high alert. When he wasn’t able to take Felder down, he transitioned to the clinch where he could still find ways to hurt him.  Needless to say, the result of the fight wasn’t surprising. What was surprising was the scorecard from Chris Lee. Despite the other two judges scoring it 50-45 for RDA, Lee had it 48-47 for Felder. During the fight, Felder’s corner told him he was down three rounds, he must have known he was not doing awesome. Just the surprised look on Felder’s face when they announced the split decision showed that he was shocked as anyone watching at home. But hey, when have athletic commissions ever been held accountable for their actions? They’re kind of like police departments in that sense. Even if they make blatant errors that change the course of someone’s career, they aren’t held accountable and sometimes are rewarded with even more responsibility. How many teachers would smack their students if they knew they could get away with it? Thankfully for us and the backs of our heads, that kind of behavior is illegal and punishable. If only MMA judges were held to such standards.

For someone that hadn’t stepped foot in an MMA gym for months, Felder looked good. By no means was he close to winning the fight, but he didn’t embarrass himself. Although his striking wasn’t enough to stop RDA’s pressure or takedowns, he found ways to get back to feet or tie up RDA long enough to keep him from submitting him. Who knows how well Felder could have done with a full camp?

UFC Vegas 14 was the rare main event where everyone wins (sort of). RDA re-establishes himself as a strong presence in a crowded lightweight division. Not only that, but he’s also now in a much stronger position to negotiate a new contract with the UFC. With Nurmagomedov retired, he finds the 155-pound weight class open with challengers that are right about his skill level. McGregor is rumored to be training for a comeback, and Michael Chandler is another champion from a different promotion out to prove himself. Ferguson, Poirier, Gaethje, and Hooker are also in the mix. RDA is one of the more senior members of the weight class at the wrong side of 30, but Felder and Ferguson are in the same boat (age-wise at least, with all three of them being 36). Speaking of Ferguson, maybe a rematch between the two can be made. Ferguson is coming off a loss against Gaethje, but he does hold a win over RDA and is the reason he left the division in the first place. Perhaps this could be a way for both guys to get what they want. If Ferguson is holding out for a bigger name, RDA could see if Charles Oliveira is interested in stepping up, or if Dustin Poirier has availability on his calendar. RDA doesn’t have time to clear out a division, so it’s important to give him important match-ups if he’s serious about making another title run. Besides, with over a decade of experience in the UFC, RDA doesn’t exactly need to be coddled.

Felder is a hero that saved the card that had multiple fights scratched at the last minute. By proving his worth and going the full five rounds, he should be able to ask the UFC for a favorable match-up the next time around in addition to solidifying his other job as a commentator. All three of his last fights have been split decisions, with the Hooker fight being close enough that it could have gone his way. With that perspective, Felder announced post-fight that he’s not going anywhere and he feels reinvigorated despite the shutout loss. For the next possible match-ups, Felder could finally face Al Iaquinta. They have both been scheduled to fight against each other, but for different reasons, the fight has fallen apart multiple times. Both are also on two-fight losing streaks, with a loss to Dan Hooker on their records. This could be a fun Fight Night card. If Iaquinta isn’t available, how about the guy that RDA was originally supposed to fight, Islam Makhachev? Makhachev is trying to claw his way into the top ten, and Felder could steal some of Makhachev’s momentum if he beats him.  

For the UFC, they got an exciting five-round fight that they can use in both fighter’s highlight reels in the near future. Even though the card itself had multiple cancellations on the day of the fight, at least the main event went off without a hitch and they were one card closer to fulfilling their contractual obligation to ESPN. The UFC might not give a fuck about fighter contracts, but they are doing their damn best to make sure they check off all the boxes when it’s their checkbooks that are affected.

With this card now in the books, we look towards the future where the next big fight is Petr Yan vs Aljamain Sterling. The promotion has used up most of its stars earlier in the year, but with the holidays gearing up they may also have had trouble finding headliners willing to give up their personal time just to fly out to Vegas or Abu Dhabi for some fights. Both UFC Fight Night 185 and UFC 256 still don’t have locations finalized. Who knows how the rest of the year will pan out? Let’s just hope if we do get more last-minute replacement fights, it’s as good as the one between RDA and Felder.