Paul Felder was completely baffled by what he witnessed at the Barclays Center following the UFC 223 media day last Thursday.
“The Irish Dragon” was not on the bus that was attacked by Conor McGregor and his entourage, but is still having a hard time wrapping his head around why the biggest star in MMA would act in such a manner.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was like, ‘What is this guy doing?’” Felder told Ariel Helwani on the latest episode of The MMA Hour.
“What is he on? What’s on his mind? You have everything going on in the world and this is how you act? I couldn’t believe it.”
Initially, the UFC lightweight thought it was Khabib Nurmagomedov’s entourage who were making a beeline for the bus that contained the Russian and several other fighters. At the time, Felder feared that more serious weapons would be used after watching the party launch several objects at the fighters’ bus.
“At first I thought it was some of Khabib’s guys, but then I thought, ‘Wait, that’s Khabib’s bus’. Then I realized it was all the Irish guys and I was like ‘Oh sh*t!’” he remembered.
“Then I saw Conor and I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ There’s Conor running around in the Barclays Center and I couldn’t believe it. I was waiting for someone to pull out a serious weapon. Depending on who you are messing with, you don’t know what these guys are bringing with them.”
The Philadelphia native claimed that he sympathized with the UFC staff, who he claims were being “tossed around” by McGregor’s crew.
“It was scary. I really felt for the UFC staff. I saw some of them getting tossed around and thrown around by some of Conor’s guys. They were in their 50’s too, they were not young guys that were out there. They weren’t fist fighting. They were just making a scene, throwing sh*t at a bus. It was just stupid.”