Justin Gaethje competed in the main event of UFC Fight Night Philadelphia, defeating Edson Barboza by first round knockout.
A victorious Gaethje would appear on the post-fight show, where analyst and fighter Paul Felder hinted at a potential future fight between them both. Gaethje, who wasn’t happy with the alleged call out, says that Felder and Karyn Bryant (who was also a part of the post-fight show) tried stealing his thunder.
“He’s trying to steal my thunder, him and Karyn (Bryant),” Gaethje said backstage after the event (via Steven Marrocco & Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie).
Felder says that Gaethje’s name was mentioned because he has mentioned fighting the lightweight contender in the past.
“I feel like what I did was more respectful, because I mentioned his name,” Felder said to MMA Junkie. “His name has come out of my mouth when he’s not around, so when he’s there, it would be unprofessional and cowardly of me to not say the same thing to his face that I had already said on camera with the UFC. I get where Justin is coming from. It’s just everybody else that needs to shut the (expletive) up. Justin is a fighter. He just knocked out an opponent – I might be like, ‘Hey, let me have my moment.’ That’s fine for him. I had to do what I had to do, and he’s going to react the way he’s going to react. I have no problem with him being like, ‘They tried to steal my moment.’ Maybe we got a little carried away when it kept going on. But I just wanted to say, ‘I’d love to fight you. It’s going to happen now, or it’s going to happen later.’ That’s the part that I don’t see how it could be a big deal.”
Bryant would also respond to what Gaethje claimed, saying the following on Twitter:
My favorite part is how people don't think we have executive producers who lead the show and tell us what to talk about/ask... I just freestyle whatever I want on these shows! ---- #ThinkAboutItFolks
— Karyn Bryant (@KarynBryant) March 31, 2019
It is unknown yet whats next for either Gaethje or Felder, as Gaethje fought just a few days ago and Felder is still recovering from surgery on his previously punctured lung.
