UFC commentator Paul Felder will have to balance two jobs on July 16th. The #7 ranked lightweight contender, who is also a frequent sight on the UFC commentary desk, will temporarily leave his post to corner Jared Gordon during UFC on ESPN 13. Felder will remain a commentator during the other fights on the card, and will only break away to corner his fellow teammate.
Corona Virus Outbreak
Gordon’s normal team will not be able to attend due to a severe outbreak of coronavirus among all of them. Three other volunteers, also represented by the same sports management company, Sucker Punch Entertainment, stepped up to corner “Flash”. Gordon’s corner will now consist of Paul Felder, Xtreme Couture coach Eric Nicksick, and UFC featherweight Dan Ige.
This is not the first time that the coronavirus has caused serious issues with cornering. Mike Brown was unable to corner Jorge Masvidal in his fight against Kamaru Usman due to having contracted the virus himself. Nevertheless, the short-notice situation is much more conventional than the corner Mike “Platinum” Perry had against Mickey Gall at UFC on ESPN 12. Forgoing a traditional corner, Perry instead chose to only have his new girlfriend as a corner woman. Perry would go on to win the bout via unanimous decision.
Jared “Flash” Gordon and Paul Felder “The Irish Dragon”
Gordon will be fighting Chris Fishgold on the early prelims of UFC on ESPN 13. He comes off a loss to Charles “Do Bronx” Olivera, who is currently the #6 ranked UFC lightweight contender. Fishgold is also coming off a loss in the form of an anaconda choke against Makwan Amirkhani.
Felder himself has a long and respected run at lightweight. He most recently lost a razor-thin split-decision against Dan Hooker at UFC Fight Night 168. That fight won him Fight of the Night honors.
