Paul Felder steps in vs. Rafael dos Anjos in Saturdays UFC Fight Night 182 headliner – MMA Junkie

Paul Felder will fight Rafael dos Anjos on just five days’ notice, Saturday, in the new UFC Fight Night 182 headliner.

After Islam Makhachev fell off the card due to staph infection, the UFC hustled and has gotten Felder (17-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) to step in vs. dos Anjos (30-13 MMA, 18-11 UFC) in the new lightweight main event.

MMA Junkie verified the news with a person close to the situation following an initial report from UFC broadcast partner ESPN on Monday.

Felder hasn’t competed since a split-decision loss to Dan Hooker at UFC Fight Night 168 in February. “The Irish Dragon” has publicly contemplated retirement in the months since, stating he would only come back for a high-profile bout. He’s worked commentary gigs for the UFC in the meantime and was set to be on the call Saturday. Now, he fights in the main event.

Dos Anjos, meanwhile, returns to lightweight for the first time since a November 2016 loss to Tony Ferguson. The former UFC champion started out his welterweight tenure at 3-0 but has since dropped four of his past five. His lone win in that stretch came over Kevin Lee. Dos Anjos will return to his original weight class, where he hasn’t won since December 2015.

Hours after the news surfaced, the UFC confirmed the booking on social media. Shortly thereafter, Felder issued a statement via Twitter. The tweet can be seen below:

The show must go on as they say! This man is a legend. These are the moments I will tell my grandkids about. Or when Aisling tries to bring home a boy! #mainevent https://t.co/HU0IEMYaGG
— Paul Felder (@felderpaul) November 10, 2020