Paul Felder grew up in Philadelphia, trained as an actor at the city's University of the Arts, and makes his living in a sport where breaking a leg is an implied occupational hazard rather than a thespian's backstage good luck utterance.
A bachelor's degree in theater arts is by no means a prerequisite for being a UFC warrior, but Felder thinks his provides an advantage.
"You know, at the end of the day, this is a show,'' said the 31-year-old Felder, part of an entourage Thursday that took over the fourth floor of a Westin Copley ballroom to advance Sunday night's UFC extravaganza at the Garden.
"There are some guys who step into the octagon who might get nervous about the bright lights, the noise, the fans . . . but honestly, I enjoy that part of it. I got all that stuff in school.''
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Cleaned up, regulated, and increasingly mainstream over the last 15 years, the UFC will make its third visit to the Hub with Sunday's Fight Night, to be broadcast free on Fox's FS1. The main bout will pit T.J. Dillashaw vs. Dominick Cruz, and will be the first UFC championship match ever shown on FS1. It will be preceded by a deep card highlighted by Felder vs. Daron Cruickshank, to be shown exclusively on UFC's "Fight Pass'' digital platform (ufc.tv).
UFC, finally permitted by Bay State regulators in 2012 after protracted deliberation, these days is allowed throughout the US except for the state of New York. In its first visit to Boston, it drew a Garden crowd of 12,539 (capacity is 15,000), with a reported gate of some $1.53 million (roughly a $122 average ticket).
Amy Latimer, the Garden president, said Thursday that the pre-sale for Sunday has been strong, but tickets remain available across the full price range, $50 to $450. The doors will swing open at 5 p.m., the fights begin an hour later, and the Dillashaw-Cruz title match is scheduled to start at 10 p.m.
"It's done very well the other two times here,'' said Latimer. "The crowds have been good, well behaved, and passionate . . . I mean, very passionate. It's mainstream, well organized, and the athletes are in tremendous shape.
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"Is it for everyone? No. There's some blood and twisting of arms . . . it's a fight, right? So in some ways, it's polarizing that way, you're probably either going to really like it, or maybe think it's not for you.''
UFC, founded in 1993 and derided in its early years as "human cockfighting'' by Senator John McCain, was a dysfunctional, debt-ridden quagmire that few states would license by the end of the millennium. In 2001, former UMass-Boston student Dana White and two partners, Vegas casino owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, paid $2 million to acquire UFC in whole and almost overnight transformed it into the world's No. 1 mixed martial arts (MMA) platform.
Now a multibillion-dollar enterprise with upward of 400 employees, and with the 46-year-old White as president, UFC is headquartered in Vegas and also has offices in London, Toronto, Sao Paulo, and Singapore. The Boston stop is one of some 40 live events UFC stages each year, and overall the company claims to have a broadcast reach of one billion households worldwide.
"We're the NBA of MMA,'' said Cruickshank, noting how UFC has become the sport's No. 1 brand and trying to explain its increasing allure.
"Not everyday do you see two people trying to hit or push each other down. At least not in aggressive everyday-life kind of way. You watch that happen in the cage, and it's 'Oh, this is legal . . . two people trying to beat the crap out of each other?'
"And when it's over, the same two people are standing there, hugging each other out of mutual respect . . . I'm telling you, it's magical.''
Felder, the actor whose stage now is the 750-square-foot octagon, believes the sport appeals to a base human instinct, a desire to see "what happens if I get in arena with a dude, some bad dude, and find out what happens.''
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In his college years, Felder, known in MMA as "The Irish Dragon,'' recalled he appeared in performances such as "In the Boom Boom Room'' and "The Light of Inishmaan.'' Now he's trying to catch the audience's eye, and maybe the side of an opponent's head, with a deftly executed kickbox move.
"This is not the sport I first saw as a kid,'' said Felder, thinking back to UFC's formative years. "I remember watching on TV, thinking, 'Holy cow, that guy just kicked a guy in the face while he was down on the ground!' You know, like they were coming straight off barstools.
"It's not like that anymore. It has a lot more rules and regulations. Yeah, there's still blood and guys are going to get hurt at times. It's better now, for sure . . . but hey, it's still a fight.''
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.