Paul Felder didn’t have to wait long to find an opponent, as he is reportedly replacing the injured Yancy Medeiros at UFC 226 against Mike Perry.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto first reported the change to the UFC 226 bout.
Paul Felder was not a happy camper earlier today when his UFC Boise opponent, James Vick, was pulled from their scheduled bout and matched up with Justin Gaethje for an August fight. His struggles did not last long, because a few hours later, news broke that Yancy Medeiros would no longer be fighting Mike Perry at UFC 226, which is in two short weeks.
Felder campaigned on Twitter for the fight, and Perry did his part as well. UFC President Dana White would then confirm with Okamoto that Felder will be filling in for Medeiros, who broke his rib in training.
Paul Felder has been jerked around recently. The lightweight was part of the 223 debacle, in which his scheduled opponent Al Iaquinta was promoted to the main event the day before the event after Max Holloway was unable to make weight for his short notice bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov. Add today’s fiasco and it’s been a rough few months for Felder.
In the cage, however, Felder is on a roll, winning in all three of his 2017 appearances in impressive fashion. The Philadelphia native knocked out Alex Ricci, Stevie Ray, and Charles Oliveira on his way back to the top 15 at lightweight. This fight will be at welterweight on short notice though.
Mike Perry has struggled recently, losing to Santiago Ponzinibbio and Max Griffin in his recent appearances. The high energy fighter earned Performance of the Night bonuses in both his victories prior to the recent skid.
UFC 226 is one of the finest cards the promotion has put together in quite some time. Champions Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic will battle in an excellent superfight, and Max Holloway will defend his featherweight belt against phenom Brian Ortega. If that wasn’t enough, Derrick Lewis will throw down with Francis Ngannou.
