On Saturday, Malcolm Gordon will be one of many Canadians stepping into the UFC 297 cage. While he does so with his country on his back, he also does with a fair amount of pressure. Back-to-back losses, albeit to top level competition, have Gordon out to prove what he’s really capable in there on Saturday – which included making some changed to his camp.
“I haven’t had the best showing that I know I’m capable of. I’ve been super injured and I try to stay active with three fights a year at minimum, so obviously that take a toll on your body,” Gordon said. “A lot of little things [I was] trying to get worked through. The coaching, the change in training regiment and whatnot – everything that’s going to take me to the next level of the UFC and start getting some wins.”
Amongst those changes was spreading his time out across the ‘Great White North’ in effort to level up in as many ways as possible.
“A lot of improvements have been going into this last 10 months to be honest,” he shared. “In Canada, I try to keep my training camps local, first and foremost. I’m a Canadian athlete. I take a huge amount of pride in training with all of the top teams in Canada.”
Although some might be hesitant about splitting up some of their work amongst the rival gyms in the area, Gordon doesn’t see it that way. In fact, he sees it as a way to express his pride in his country and show the work what Canadian athletes are all about.
“At the end of the day, that’s the flag that’s going to be on my shorts, on my shirt. I don’t see any rivalry amongst any of the gyms throughout this entire country,” Gordon said. “I was fortunate enough to cross-train with some guys out of Vancouver, Danis Kang’s gym – Pinnacle MMA, and did some work with Bibiano Fernandes as well.”
Now he’ll look to show those imporvements against Jimmy Flick – a grappling specialist who loves a jiu jitsu puzzle to solve. And if that’s the type of fight Flick is going to seek again, Gordon can’t wait to show him what this Canadian is all about.
“I have cardio for six months. Grappling is in my blood. Grappling is what I do. If that’s the gameplan for him, it’s going to be welcomed,” he said. “I’m seeing a finish. Either a first or second round TKO.”
You can catch his bout with Flick as part of the ESPN+ prelims of UFC 297 this Saturday. Those fights begin at 6pm EST.
You can hear the entire audio of this interview at 2:11.
