Las Vegas, NV — Canadians are generally a low-key bunch, but that’s not to say they don’t have the same sense of national pride as everyone else. That’s what made getting the win at UFC Vegas 31 so important for flyweight Malcolm Gordon.
“Coming into this organization and representing Canada really meant a lot to me, and I really feel like I dropped the ball twice. Well I did actually drop the ball twice, but I really wanted to prove to everybody back home and my long term fans that I belonged here, and I could represent my country and everything at the highest level,” he stated Saturday, following a unanimous decision win over Francisco Figueiredo, brother of ex-champ Deiveson.
The narrative ahead of the fight read like this: Gordon, 0-2 in the promotion, needed a win to save his job. Figueiredo was a tough out, looking for his second win in the octagon. The former TKO champ got the job done, going the distance. And he didn’t read too much into necessity of a win.
“We get into this sport and we get into this to fight, and most importantly, I just wanted to perform,” explained Gordon. “All the other stuff— tomorrow’s going to come, tonight, whatever. Most importantly I wanted to make sure that I just at least performed tonight. Whether I got the win or not, was going to be something that, if it was meant to be, it was meant to be.” What Gordon couldn’t live without was putting on a good performance. “I think I got a decent performance this time. Still not my best performance, but enough to get the win and get me another shot at it.”
Looking ahead, Gordon would like to return “as soon as personal, really.” The Canadian flyweight believes he has a lot of developing to do, “especially fighting at the highest level here.” Gordon added, however, that “we’re still kind of putting the pieces together back home with training camp and training partners, and COVID’s not necessarily completely out and over with in Canada as well too. We’re still dealing with lockdowns, and we’re just getting to the stages where gyms are starting to open again.”
“I pride myself with being Canadian and keeping my camps Canadian, and training in Canada,” Gordon contiuned. “So we’ve still got some work to do there.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 31 post-fight press scrum with Malcolm Gordon above.
