UFC's Jared Gordon 'found the key,' hopes for top 15 opponent next
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UFC's Jared Gordon says vicious KO of Thiago Moises secures big fight
UFC Fight Night 256 winner Jared Gordon talks to MMA Junkie and other reporters post-fight after his first-round knockout of Thiago Moises.
LAS VEGAS – Jared Gordon returned to the win column at UFC Fight Night 256, and hopes to take advantage of what he believes is the best version of himself to date.
On the preliminary card at the UFC Apex, Gordon (21-7 MMA, 9-6 UFC) smashed Thiago Moises with a heavy overhand right and follow-up punches for a first-round knockout. It was his first win since UFC 295 in 2023, where he finished Mark Madsen in the opening round. A split decision loss to Nasrat Haqparast followed, but he and many others believe he should have gotten the nod.
Now with a win over Moises (19-9 MMA, 8-7 UFC), who has fought many high-quality opponents over the years, including Islam Makhachev, Gordon hopes to land a top 15 opponent next, but isn't quite sure that will happen.
"Who knows, bro?" Gordon said at a post-fight news conference. "Who knows? I hope. I think at this point – my last three fights have been amazing. This one, Nasrat, which should have been Fight of the Night, but for some reason they gave out four bonuses, which is whatever. Then I knocked out Madsen before that. This is what I can do every fight, so there's no reason, and I'm, at this point, I think I'm kind of like a household name, right? Been in the UFC for eight years, this was my 16th UFC fight. I'm winning. I don't look like sh*t in there. I'm not a old looking guy. I move, I'm in shape. I push anyone to the limit."
Gordon admits that the results of past fights have caused him to reevaluate and change his approach. The split decision loss to Haqparast was frustrating, as was a unanimous decision loss to Paddy Pimblett in 2022. For the latter, 23 of 24 media scores submitted to MMA Decisions favored Gordon, including 11 members scoring every round in his favor.
Those were teaching moments for Gordon, but he believes he has it all figured out now.
"When you go into a fight, and you win the fight, and then you still lose somehow, it kind of messes with you," Gordon said. "Obviously, there's a few fights in my past that's what happened. So, I go home and I'll be like, 'I don't understand.' I did everything right, I won the fight, and I still lost.
"I'm not going to go into specifics, but I just had to change a couple of things, personal things, and I think I found the key. So, here I am, and I'm the best I've ever been. I've shown in the last four or five fights that this is how good I am. Those fights weren't flukes. So, this is me."
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