What is the Paul Felder curse, the victims of which include UFC fighters Mike Perry and Dan Hooker?
UFC fighters are not without their superstitions. Some fighters have various rituals that they perform before fighting and some believe in specific MMA curses. One such curse that is popular among MMA fans is the 'Paul Felder Curse'.
According to the 'Paul Felder Curse' or 'The Curse of the Irish Dragon', every fighter who manages to defeat Felder in the octagon will go on on to lose his next fight.
According to the data, this curse is 100 percent true. 'The Irish Dragon' has lost to a total of six fighters. Out of those six, five, including Dan Hooker and Mike Perry, have gone on to lose their next fight.
You can see the graphic below:
Now, the one exception is Rafael dos Anjos, who was the last person to beat Felder. RDA hasn't fought since then, so nobody knows yet whether he will be another victim to the curse or not.
'The Irish Dragon' announced his retirement recently at UFC Vegas 27 but Felder will continue to perform his commentary duties.
Other UFC Superstitions
One superstition that has gained a lot of traction recently concerns current light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz. Blachowicz has a rope that he touches before a fight for good luck.
The story behind the rope is that the Polish fighter was roaming in the forest when he saw a dead man's body hanging from a tree. He cut the rope and took a part of it home as good luck. Later on, Blachowicz made a bracelet out of the rope that he now wears before fights.
Another famous supernatural phenomena in the MMA world is the Conan Curse. According to this, every UFC fighter who makes an appearance on the late night host Conan O'Brien's show, loses his next fight. This has held true for fighters like Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey and Michael Bisping.
It was only when Daniel Cormier beat Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title after appearing on the show that the curse was considered broken.