“The Flash” has made all the right calls as of late. He got his divisional issues squared away and settled in with the shark tank that is the lightweight division, and he moved from Roufusport in Milwaukee to Sanford MMA in Florida.
Those moves have combined to land Gordon with a three-fight winning streak that featured victories over Chris Fishgold, Danny Chavez, and Joe Solecki. And just a few weeks after getting that win over Solecki last October, Gordon married his sweetheart Christina in Miami.
Life is good for Gordon, and it’s made him feel better than ever heading into his UFC Fight Night: Font vs Vera bout with Grant Dawson.
“This is my time right now,” Gordon told UFC.com. “Everything is clicking, and everything is greased up and I’m in great shape.”
FREE FIGHTS: Rob Font vs Marlon Moraes | Marlon Vera vs Frankie Edgar
That feeling of ‘it’s my time’ isn’t something that Gordon experienced thus far in his UFC career. When he first came into the UFC, he blew through his first two fights and had some weight misses, then he lost his next two fights.
It was a turbulent start to his UFC career and showed him that there were definite levels to the fight game. To get to contender status he needed a wakeup call, and that wakeup call came in the form of a TKO loss to now lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.
“When you lose like that it, it kind of changed my perspective. I used to come forward, just fight and get bloody and blow through the competition, and then I started getting touched. I started thinking I needed to change things up,” Gordon said. “There was a point where I just needed to keep my job, and I did.”
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Gordon did more than just keep his job, as his three-fight win streak has him knocking on the door of the rankings. He knows he can make a good case for the Top 15 with a statement win this weekend over a dangerous opponent in Dawson.
Although Dawson is undefeated through six fights in the UFC, he went to a draw with Ricky Glenn his last time out, leaving some questions to be answered. It also might have been the catalyst to convince him to switch from his longtime camp Glory MMA to American Top Team.
Sound familiar?
“When I heard Grant was moving to Florida, I was excited that we could maybe hang out or something,” Gordon said. “But then like a week later we were booked to fight so, oh well. For a guy like him, it’s all business and that’s what it is for me.”
Gordon can relate to Dawson needing a change of pace. It’s what worked for him and helped get him on the best winning streak of his UFC career.
Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Font vs Vera
But it’s his job to make sure that he spoils Dawson’s plans, and he’s taking it seriously.
“I got Grant Dawson. He’s more of an exciting fight and [winning against him] is more of a reward,” Gordon said. “I think after I get this win, I deserve a Top 15 guy.”
