England’s Chris Fishgold was fighting for the first time in a year at UFC Fight Island 1. And the Liverpool native had added motivation to win, after missing weight and being forced to cough up 20% of his purse to opponent Jared Gordon on Wednesday.

Fishgold entered the fight three pounds over the featherweight limit. He also entered looking to get back in the win column after falling to Makwan Amirkhani in Stockholm last year. Gordon, for his part, was 1-3 in his last five, and coming off a lose to Charles Oliveira. After a cornerman tested positive for COVID-19, broadcaster Paul Felder will step into Gordon’s corner for the fight.

Gordon went for a head kick to start the contest, but it was blocked. Fishgold wanted to have some fun after a blocked combination, but Gordon wasn’t having it. Fishgold landed a right hand and Gordon responded with a takedown, taking the back of his opponent. Fishgold started to roll, but Gordon countered with a guillotine. Fishgold escaped then stood up, and the striking was more active this time around. Gordon shot in for another takedown and got it, but this time Fishgold tried the guillotine. It was fairly tight, but Gordon eventually broke free and rode out the little time left throwing ground and pound.

Fishgold came out in the second round and landed a solid right hand. Gordon timed it the third time it came around and ducked under for a double-leg. Fishgold tried to guillotine Gordon again, but Gordon elevated and passed to side control to break free. Gordon started working the kimura and Fishgold was able to retain full guard. Without the guillotine threat, Gordon started peppering Fishgold with ground-and-pound. Gordon stayed active enough from guard for the referee to threaten to stand them up. With 30 seconds left, Gordon passed guard to half guard.

Fishgold came out hard in round two, throwing heavy blows Gordon’s way. Fishgold then shot for a takedown, but Gordon stuffed it then took top position. He attempted to take the back of Fishgold, but fell off and the fight returned to the feet. Gordon stuffed another takedown then established back side control. Gordon locked up one arm with his leg and started laying down hammerfists as Fishgold struggled to defend. The arm of Fishgold popped free, but the strikes kept coming from Gordon. A dominant end to the fight for Gordon, who looked excellent in this contest.

Gordon detailed afterwards that his girlfriend had a miscarriage then was diagnosed with COVID-19 in the leadup to the fight. It was an emotional victory for Gordon.

Official Result: Jared Gordon def. Chris Fishgold by Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

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Just call it a card in flux. UFC on ESPN 7, which sees the promotion head to Washington, D.C. next month, has had a number of late shake-ups. For starters, welterweight Mickey Gall has been removed from the event, in the wake of an injury to Carlos Condit. Additionally, Chris Fishgold announced Monday that he was off the card, although the British featherweight did not state a reason. Finally, with Livinha Souza out of the event due to a back injury, Mallory Martin is stepping up to take her place.

“Unfortunately I won’t be fighting on UFC Washington next week. Fingers crossed [I’ll] be back fighting soon,” Fishgold wrote in an Instagram story. The former Cage Warriors champion was expected to face Billy Quarantillo on the televised preliminary portion of UFC Washington. It remains to be seen if the promotion will be able to secure a replacement on short notice.

Strawweight Mallory Martin (6-2) will be making her promotional debut when she steps in against Virna Jandiroba in the American capital. Martin appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series this past August, defeating Micol di Segni. She did not, however, earn a UFC deal, but instead returned to Invicta FC, picking up a win over Cynthia Arceo earlier this month.

News of Carlos Condit falling off the UFC on ESPN 7 card, meanwhile, broke earlier this month. While replacement opponents were investigated, it appears Gall (6-2) will now be looking to 2020 for his return to the octagon, given the remaining 2019 events appear booked solid.

UFC Washington (UFC on ESPN 7) is headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Alistair Overeem and Jarzinho Rozenstruik. The latter stepped into the fight in the wake of Walt Harris departing the card due to the disappearance of his stepdaughter Aniah Blanchard.

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SBG Ireland team member, Makwan Amirkhani returned to the Octagon after a year off on Saturday from the Ericcson Globe Arena, in Stockholm, Sweden. Mr. Findland was hoping to improve on his 4-1 UFC record and gain some momentum to get himself into the featherweight rankings.

Amirkhani’s opponent, Chris Fishgold is a former Cage Warriors lightweight champion, who is 1-1 in the UFC. The Englishman drew the extremely talented Calvin Kattar in his organization debut — losing by first-round TKO. The 26-year-old bounced back in his sophomore bout by taking out Daniel Teymur by second-round submission last February.

They two have been trash talking ever since the bout was announced and even got into a shoving match at the weigh-ins.

Here’s the play by play when the two Europeans finally encountered each other in the Octagon.

Round 1:

Amirkhani starts the fight by running at Fishgold and throwing a flying knee, which the Englishman spun away from. They both exchanged some kicks. The action was briefly stopped when Fishgold was poked in the eye.

When the fight resumed, Fishgold opened up with kicks to the legs, body and even one to the head. One of the kicks tripped Amirkhani to the canvas but Mr. Findland jumped back to his feet.

Fishgold hit his counterpart with an overhand right. He stepped in and Amirkhani perfectly timed a double leg takedown. Fishgold scrambled looking for an ankle. He ate a few punches while rolling around for the submission.

Back in the closed guard, Mr. Finland keeps Fishgold pressed against the cage and landed a right elbow. A scramble ensued and Amirkhani jumped for a guillotine but the round came to an end.

Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 for Amirkhani

Round 2:

Amirkhani grazed Fishgold with a hook but was hit with a hard knee. The southpaw kicked Fishgold’s lead leg. A 1-2 combo landed for Amirkhani but Fishgold backed him up with two big right hands.

Fishgold was marching forward and hit Amirkhani with a right hand. Suddenly the Englishman was floored with a straight kick to the groin. When the fight resumed, Fishgold went back to kicking the legs. He was then hit with a right hand in response.

Amirkhani shot in on a double leg. Fishgold jumped for a guillotine. Mr. Finland fought the hands and popped free, but Fishgold switched to a D’Arce choke. He popped free again, and now Amirkhani was on top. Fishgold tried to scramble but Amirkhani locked in an anaconda choke. Fishgold rolled to his back and tried to spin away from his foe. Amirkhani followed after the submission and eventually Fishgold tapped out.

He’s back!

Mr. Finland got the tap! #UFCStockholm pic.twitter.com/91Nt4Gg3RD

— UFC (@ufc) June 1, 2019

Makwan Arimkhani def. Chris Fishgold by submission (anaconda choke), Round 2, 4:25

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Chris Fishgold is an English fighter who defended the Cage Warriors lightweight championship three times after winning gold in 2016. He dropped to featherweight for his UFC debut against Calvin Kattar, which he lost by first-round knockout in October. Fishgold is a submission specialist with a 17-2 record with 14 of those wins coming via tapout.

Daniel Teymur, the older brother of UFC lightweight David Teymur, will be looking for his first victory with the promotion at UFC Prague. The former Swedish Muay Thai champion started his MMA career at 6-0, earning him a shot at the biggest promotion in the world. Teymur was on the losing end of a Fight of the Night in his promotional debut, then was submitted by Julio Arce in his second appearance.

Fishgold shot for a takedown in the opening seconds, forcing Teymur against the cage and grabbing onto the Swede’s leg. Teymur then grabbed the fence egregiously, forcing referee Herb Dean to deduct a point. Once placed back into their position against the fence, Fishgold took control and took Teymur to the ground. The Liverpool native wasn’t able to do much damage on the ground, and Teymur was able to work the fight back to the feet.

Fishgold continued to shoot for takedowns and pressure Teymur consistently throughout round one. After a near-takedown, Fishgold had Teymur’s back, but again was unable to take advantage of the position. Teymur showed impressive strength, eventually getting some ground strikes from top position of his own on Fishgold. With less than 90 seconds left, the duo traded hard shots, with Fishgold getting the better of Teymur. Shortly thereafter, the fight was once again on the ground, with Fishgold on top after yet another takedown. Fishgold worked for an armbar that looked sunk-in, but Teymur managed to escape that as well, hearing the bell with Fishgold on his back.

Fishgold had Teymur on his back within the first 30 seconds of the second round, landing yet another takedown. After passing guard and eventually taking Teymur’s back, Fishgold flattened his opponent out and finished the fight with a clinical rear-naked choke.

Chris Fishgold earned his first career UFC win in impressive fashion at UFC Prague, submitting Daniel Teymur early in round two. It’s as great a performance the submission specialist could’ve hoped for, while the Swede will go back to the drawing board after his third consecutive loss.

Chris Fishgold def. Daniel Teymur by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) in Round 2 (1:10)

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The UFC was set to make its debut in the Czech Republic on Saturday, touching down in historic Prague. No defenestration here, just plenty of action planned for the octagon. In the main event, light heavyweights Jan Blachowicz and Thiago Santos faced off. In a thin 205lb division, with Anthony Smith challenging Jon Jones for the title just a week later, the winner could be in the hunt for a title shot.

Also on the card, towering heavyweight Stefan Struve looked to get back on track against Brazil’s Marcos Rogerio de Lima, while Gillian Robertson sought out her third win at flyweight.

Two fighters came in heavy on Friday as fighters stepped on the scales: light heavyweight Klidson Abreu was three pounds heavy for the non-title fight limit. And Diego Ferreira was a pound over the non-title fight limit at lightweight. Both fighter will be fined 20% of their purses, and the action will go forward as planned.

UFC Prague Weigh-In Results

Main Card (ESPN+/TSN, 2PM ET)

Jan Blachowicz (205) vs. Thiago Santos (204)
Marcos Rogerio de Lima (255) vs. Stefan Struve (263)
Michal Oleksiejczuk (204) vs. Gian Villante (206)
Liz Carmouche (125) vs. Lucie Pudilova (126)
John Dodson (136) vs. Petr Yan (136)
Magomed Ankalaev (204) vs. Klidson Abreu (209)*

Preliminary Card (ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass, 11AM ET)

Dwight Grant (171) vs. Carlo Pedersoli Jr. (171)
Chris Fishgold (145) vs. Daniel Teymur (146)
Veronica Macedo (126) vs. Gillian Robertson (125)
Damir Hadzovic (155) vs. Marco Polo Reyes (155)
Ismail Naurdiev (170) vs. Michel Prazeres (170)
Diego Ferreira (157)** vs. Rustam Khabilov (156)
Joel Alvarez (156) vs. Damir Ismagulov (155)

* Abreu missed weight and will be fined 20% of his purse

** Ferreira missed weight and will be fined 20% of his purse

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Chris Fishgold made his promotional debut at UFC Moncton last October. Taking on Calvin Kattar, the English featherweight found success early, but shortly before the end of the opening round, wound up on the wrong end of a TKO loss. In short, he got caught. Now, he’ll look for a second chance at a first impression much closer to home, at UFC Prague.

Looking back at his debut in Moncton, New Brunswick in Canada, Fishgold told Cageside Press that time off might have played a factor that night. “To be honest, that was my first fight in a year, and the time I fought before that, exactly a year before that.” Moncton “was my second fight in two years. So I think I had some ring rust.”

Factor in that, and the experience of fighting in the UFC for the first time. Fishgold didn’t quite call it octagon jitters, but pointed out that “I’m fighting in the UFC. This has been a big, big dream for me since I was a young child. So I started walking out, the Canadian fans are great, and you hear them all screaming, it really pumped me up. By the time I got in there, obviously I’m a black belt on the ground, I knew if I wanted to keep it there, I could.”

That game plan, however, went out the window as the crowd lit a fire under him. “It’s an entertainment business, you’re always aware as much as people want to watch you, people want to see blood, and they want to see you go into war. So the minute I got in there, I thought, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Fishgold had no delusions. He knew Kattar was a top twenty guy. “I think he was still ranked 17th in the world on Tapology.” Yet instead of being patient, “I just wanted to take his head off for the fans to please the crowd. And I feel like I was doing that right until I got caught.”

Pretty much. “You live and learn, I think from now on I know what to expect, I know the crowd,” Fishgold told us. Now that he’s had that experience, “you’ll see a more composed Fishgold, you’ll see what you seen in the first, but a little more patient.”

Despite the loss, Fishgold had arrived. He’d made the UFC. It was something many expected years earlier, when he was a 10-0 prospect. “Totally,” he said when asked if he ever felt the call might not come. “I was 10-0, I’d just turned 21 years of age. I thought if it was going to come, it was going to come then. I’d seen UFC events come and go in the UK. It got my hopes down. I had two years, two and a half years off where I never fought, because I literally just couldn’t be bothered. It was like, ‘why am I even doing this?'”

Then he went to Asia (Taiwan, to be exact), and lost. It was the first loss of his career. The ten fight win streak was over. Yet rather than demotivating him, it reignited his passion.

“It wasn’t just about getting to the UFC. It was about being a fighter, going out winning fights and entertaining,” he said of his newfound enthusiasm for MMA back then. “The love of the chaos and the love of the sport.”

That was what Fishgold was chasing. He got things back on track. He put together another big win streak. Following the loss in Taiwan, there was a draw, then seven straight victories.

Then, UFC Liverpool was announced. “About that time, I was 17-1-1, I’d lost once, that was two years [prior], a controversial decision.” The feeling Fishgold had was the same he’d felt back when he was 10-0 at 21 years old, like “this was never going to happen.”

Luckily, “to my relief and to my pleasure, they signed me the day before the Liverpool show.”

Timing is everything. “I think everything happens for a reason,” said Chris Fishgold. “I think if I would have got signed at 21, I wouldn’t be there now. I was still maturing. I’m not saying I was immature back then, but I was still maturing, and I don’t think I would have valued the opportunity as much as I value it now.”

And here he is, fighting in the UFC. Not at home yet, mind you. “I asked for the London card. To be honest, for me, I’ll fight any time, any place. I’m not just saying that.” So when Prague came up, he took it. After all, Prague is closer than Moncton.

As to why he keeps that “fight anywhere” attitude, “it’s business at the end of the day. I love the sport, and I think it’s a gentleman’s sport. You need to try and be, maybe not a role model, but you need to be someone to look up to as much as possible. So I wanted to fight on the London card, but I’ll fight on any card, and they said there’s a space on the Prague one. So I took it.”

He does plan to “finish this fight nice and quick, and I’m going to keep my weight down. I’ll fight at any weight, last minute, whether it’s featherweight, lightweight, catchweight.” He’s still got an eye on UFC London, should a replacement be needed. “I’m going to let Sean Shelby know, if he ever needs somebody last minute, I’ll be ready, I’ll be the man to call if he needs somebody.”

Prague should be “a lot better on the body” then Moncton at least. “Closer to home,” especially after Fishgold missed a connecting flight in Germany on his way to Canada back in October. That turned a 16 hour journey into a 28 hour adventure.

And this time up, it’s Daniel Teymur rather than Calvin Kattar of course. “Kattar and Teymur, in my personal opinion, they’re levels apart,” said Fishgold. “No disrespect to Teymur, but you need to look at who Kattar’s beat and who he’s lost to, and who Teymur’s beat and who he’s lost to.”

He’s also aware his pending opponent has his back against the wall. “Let’s be honest, he’s 0-2 in the UFC,” admitted Fishgold. “If he loses this, there’s a good chance he could get cut.”

And so, “like any fight, I need to be prepared.” But more than just prepared, “I’m looking for the best Teymur that there is. I need to look at everything he does in his fights, and say ‘alright, he’s going to be a better version of that.'”

“I do think he’s going to come out a lot better than he ever has before, or a lot harder,” Fishgold continued. “A lot better cardio. But at the same time, I’m prepared for that. There’s levels to the sport.”

Despite being caught in his last fight, Fishgold truly believes he can beat anyone, and Kattar isn’t far from his mind. “I’d love to fight Kattar again, and I’m sure somewhere down the line we will, but at this moment, Teymur’s the fight and there’s levels to this.” As for a prediction, “I am going to finish him within the first round, then I’ll move on to the next one.”

More specifically, he believes it will be “over in the first three minutes. If it goes past the first three minutes, he’s having a lucky night.”

While Fishgold is fighting at featherweight these days, he previously spent time at lightweight. Rather than considering a move up in the future, he suggested even bantamweight could be a possibility.

“To be honest, I do sprints for my fitness, but I don’t do long distance running.” He’s hitting featherweight by dieting and training like normal. “I think about, if I made the effort” and started his diet really south, “I think I could definitely make bantamweight.” That said, he feels his future is at 145. Plus, he’s happy with life at the moment, not killing himself every day.

Regardless of weight, however, Fishgold is hoping to fight four times this year, so three more after UFC Prague. “I’ve got ten years at my peak to make a legacy for myself and build as much money as possible,” he said. If all goes well in Prague, he’s hoping for that London card. If not, he wants another fight before his 27th birthday.

First up, Daniel Teymur. The pair face off at UFC Prague (UFC Fight Night 145) on Saturday, February 23. The card airs live on ESPN+, and TSN in Canada.

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The UFC continues to build the card for it’s first ever trip to the Czech Republic. On Friday, the promotion announced on social media that Daniel Teymur would face Chris Fishgold at the event. UFC Prague (UFC Fight Night 145) takes place on February 23 at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. The booking comes mere days after Daniel Teymur’s brother David was booked into a key fight at UFC Fortaleza next month, against Charles Oliveira.

🇸🇪 vs 🇬🇧

Daniel Teymur faces @ChrisFishgold at #UFCPrague on Feb 23! pic.twitter.com/AeNXbUDDxQ

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) January 11, 2019

Teymur (Daniel, that is) has struggled to find the same success as his brother in the UFC. Thus far, the lightweight turned featherweight has gone 0-2 in the promotion. With losses to Danny Henry and Julio Arce, Teymur’s back is against the wall heading into his bout with Fishgold. Overall, the Swede is 6-2 as a pro.

Chris Fishgold (17-2) made his UFC debut this past October at UFC Moncton in Canada. While the Brit came up short against Calvin Kattar, ending up finished in the first round, Fishgold still has plenty of upside, and is a former Cage Warriors champion who made three title defenses. The featherweight will look to get back to his winning ways in Prague, after having a seven fight win streak snapped by the Kattar loss.

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Calvin Kattar had only three fights in the UFC prior to UFC Moncton, despite the small sample size he had shown flashes of being a great featherweight for years to come. Having defeated fellow prospects Andre Fili and Shane Burgos, he was next matched up with Renato Moicano where he lost via decision. Despite the loss, Kattar still has tons of potential in the UFC, he was next matched up with Chris Fishgold. Moicano has subsequently become a top-five featherweight in the promotion, so there is certainly no shame in that loss for Kattar.

Chris Fishgold made his promotional debut at UFC Moncton, however, he’s no stranger to big fights. Fishgold was the Cage Warriors featherweight champion and went into the fight with a 17-1-1 and record, coming to the UFC on a seven-fight win streak. During the streak, the Liverpudlian has finished six of his seven victims, five of which were by submission, including three guillotine chokes. Going into his fight with Kattar there was a large expectation of fireworks.

Chris Fishgold started the fight immediately with a big takedown then a right hand. Fishgold then started to rush for the finish but Kattar stayed composed and kept behind his jab. His patience and calm paid off well, as near the end of the first round Kattar caught Fishgold with a big right hand that dropped him, he then swarmed for the finish and that’s all she wrote.

HUGE right hand over the top drops Fishgold!@CalvinKattar gets the TKO win in round 1! #UFCMoncton pic.twitter.com/q5vA0c0kFK

— UFC (@ufc) October 28, 2018

Fishgold looked good at points, but Kattar showed why he has so much potential at 145 pounds. Expect big things from both of these fighters in the future in the featherweight division.

Calvin Kattar def. Chris Fishgold by TKO (Punches) in Round 1 (4:11)

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