Paul Felder not set on retirement just yet, says coach and manager

The coach and manager for UFC lightweight contender Paul Felder say he is not set on retirement despite his post-fight comments at UFC Auckland.

After Felder lost a contentious split decision to Dan Hooker in the main event of the evening, he told UFC commentator Dan Hardy that he was considering retirement, citing his young four-year-old child missing him when he goes away for fight camps.

“I knew it was close. I feel like I hurt him a lot in the fight but he got the takedowns. He was smart. He busted me up pretty good,” Felder said.

“That might be it for me. I got a four-year-old at home that misses me every time I go away like this. I don’t know.”

But that might not be set in stone. Following the event, MMAjunkie.com caught up with Felder’s coach Duke Roufus and his manager Brian Butler. Both Roufus and Butler are not convinced that this is the end of the line for Felder despite his post-fight comments.

“His retirement comments were in the moment. Paul’s not done,” Roufus said.

“Paul will be back. He said it to me in the back. Emotions run high, but Paul knows he won that fight and is not hanging it up just yet,” Butler said.

Felder has a job as a UFC color commentator, so if he does indeed retire, then he has another job lined up in mixed martial arts, which is not what everyone else can say.

Having said that, despite the loss to Hooker, Felder is still one of the top-10 ranked lightweights in the world. He could have easily won the fight had another set of judges been scoring the bout cage-side, so perhaps after talking it over with his family and his team, Felder will decide to keep going.

Do you think Paul Felder will retire or keep fighting after his loss at UFC Auckland?