UFC Vegas 47: Malcolm Gordon Says Confidence Makes Him Dangerous

Las Vegas, NV — Between his first two UFC fights and his second two, there’s been a noticeable difference in Malcolm Gordon. That was on display again at UFC Vegas 47, where Gordon kicked off the card against Denys Bondar.

There was a point during the pandemic where Canadian flyweight Gordon (14-5) wasn’t even sure he’d be signed to the UFC — gyms were closed, everything was uncertain. Then, when he was signed, he dropped his first two fights. Things looked bleak until he bounced back against Francisco Figueiredo; Gordon followed that up with a TKO win against Bondar Saturday, though the end came about due to an unfortunate injury.

“Overcoming all of these sort of anxieties and emotions, this is important,” Gordon told media outlets including Cageside Press following the event, asked about the contrast between his first two bouts in the octagon, and his last two. “Then after getting that win [against Figueiredo] and getting back in there for this one, I feel confident again, which is dangerous. It’s dangerous. Once I get my feet confident, once I get everything confident in there, I’m a dangerous person.”

That dangerous side was on display at UFC Vegas 47, with Gordon snapping, or at least helping to snap, Bondar’s arm.

“I’m not going in there trying to hurt the guy or anything like that. I did feel when I had that arm-bar that it was tight, and you know, what we have to do is what we have to do to get that finish or get the tap,” Gordon said afterwards. Crediting his opponent’s toughness, Gordon recalled feeling the arm break while he had Bondar in an arm-bar.

“I felt it break, and then it was in the transition, him standing up, when it broke. And once he stood up I was like okay, it’s going to be a matter of time before he realizes that this thing is broken,” explained Gordon, adding “and then I just decided that we would just kind of lean him against the fence and let him touch the hand to the ground. It was a smart move on my part, and once that happened, he realized [the arm was broken] and it was done.”

Letting Bondar put his weight on the broken limb might seem cold, but Gordon had nothing but warm wishes for his opponent after the fact.

“I feel terrible because obviously I don’t want to go in there wanting to kill people. It’s unfortunate. I hope he has a speedy recovery, I know he’s coming off of a couple injuries and this was his first fight in two years. I really do wish him the best and for him to come back stronger from this too.”

Watch the full UFC Vegas 47 post-fight press scrum with Malcolm Gordon above. More coverage from the event can be found below.