It’s been a crazy leadup to UFC Vegas 14 which goes down tomorrow night. Initially, Rafael Dos Anjos (29-13) was set to take on rising prospect, Islam Makhachev, in the main event tomorrow night.
However, staff infection pulled Makhachev out of the fight. The UFC searched for a replacement and landed on one who was set to be the color commentator tomorrow night. That man is the Irish Dragon, Paul Felder (17-5).
Felder will enter the octagon tomorrow night for the first time since his split decision loss to Dan Hooker in February. He’s currently ranked 7th in the UFC‘s lightweight division. However, he’s coming into this fight with virtually no camp.
Felder had been training for a triathlon before accepting the fight. His weight was manageable, and he felt that he was in good enough cardio shape to accept the fight which is how he ended up headlining the card tomorrow night.
He gets the chance now to face a former UFC champion in Rafael Dos Anjos. RDA comes into this fight just 1-4 in his last five fights. He’s dropping back down to lightweight after he spent the last three years at welterweight.
RDA’s journey at welterweight started out great with three straight victories. However, then he ran into the elites of the division like Colby Covington, Kamaru Usman, and Leon Edwards. Now, RDA is returning to the division that made him a UFC champion.
UFC Vegas 14 Prediction
This is such a tough matchup to pick. Given all the circumstances, one would think that the former UFC lightweight champion has the big advantage. It’s a five round main event, and RDA has been preparing for that.
Meanwhile, Felder was preparing to commentate just a week ago. However, Felder does have the skillset to really make this fight interesting. RDA does really well when he’s the guy who puts on the striking pressure.
He does extremely well when he moves forward, but he struggles off of his back foot. Felder is the kind of guy who’s going to come right out and put pressure on RDA. He does a fantastic job of checking leg kicks which could be key in this matchup.
On a full camp, I would really lean towards Felder over the former UFC champion. However, I just don’t know how sharp we are going to see Felder with no camp. I know he’s been training and he’s been hitting pads.
However, that doesn’t translate to live MMA training. You have to respect Felder for stepping up for the UFC. There aren’t many that would do it. However, with a full camp and seemingly extremely motivated, I’m leaning slightly towards RDA to squeak this one out. But, it will be close.
Prediction: Rafael Dos Anjos by Split Decision