Paul Felder welcomes Edson Barboza trilogy — under one condition

Paul Felder and Edson Barboza are now tied 1-1 across two previous fights.

The two lightweight contenders first met in July of 2015, in Felder’s second UFC bout. On that night, Barboza walked away with a unanimous decision win, handing Felder his first pro loss. Both fighters pocketed Fight of the Night bonus checks.

The pair met for a second time last weekend, in the co-main event of UFC 242. This time around, Felder emerged from another tooth-and-nail, three-round battle with a split decision victory. Unfortunately for him, not everyone agreed with that decision. That includes Barboza, who plans to appeal the verdict.

Given the history between Barboza and Felder — who have plenty of respect for each other despite their two wars — many fans are interested in seeing them settle their score in a trilogy fight. Speaking on his Instagram account, Paul Felder that he’s up for a third war with Edson Barboza — but only if it’s a five-round, main event battle.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2RoVvSB-CZ/

“I’ve been spending the last few days with my little girl. These fight camps take me away from her and I notice after every fight she has grown up a little more,” Felder wrote. “I’m thankful that I can do what I love and provide for her… she is my “why”. As for my fight and what seems to have turned into a controversial decision amongst fans.. It was a war… a close fight between 2 skilled people that wanted to finish each other. I have nothing but respect for Edson. We both go out and put on fights to entertain the fans… With that said, I will say this… I walked him down the entire fight, I threw at him the entire fight, I never stalled the entire fight, if he landed, I landed… the entire fight. When he took me down, he took the damage… the entire fight. I never gassed or slowed my pace the entire fight. I got cut due to a head butt, Edson got cut due to strikes. Both of us put our bodies through so much during that fight that whoever came out with the loss would understandably be upset but the numbers don’t lie. If we need to run it back I would be happy to, but this trilogy needs to be 5 rounds because someone was about to break and that someone was not me. If the fans and Edson need a clear ending to this then it’s main event or bust.” 

Does a tie-breaking trilogy fight between Paul Felder and Edson Barboza interest you?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 9/11/2019.