Jean Silva

Diego Lopes delivered a spectacular spinning elbow KO to finish Jean Silva in the main event of Noche UFC. The back-and-forth fight was action-packed, for as long as it lasted- a couple more rounds and fans may have been calling for a rematch. Who knows, one could still materialize down the road. But the loss snapped Silva’s 13-fight win streak dating back to 2018. Silva is now 5-1 with the UFC.

Jean’s ideal matchup moving forward would be against either Brian Ortega or Patricio Pitbull. Matchups depend on a lot of Jean’s time of recovery after the damaged suffered Saturday. Ortega was in previous editions of losers however that’s in the event the featherweight moves to lightweight (after badly missing weight ahead of his last bout, opposite Aljamain Sterling last month). Ortega is ranked at #7 within the 145lbs. division.

Another good matchup for Silva would be against Patricio Pitbull who is ranked at #11. Pitbull got his first UFC win against #14, Dan Ige, in July, so he’s 1-1 now. Pitbull, due to his age and fight miles, has little time to make an impact within the UFC. A matchup with a prospect like Silva could perform a heavy lift for both gentlemen. Either matchup is fight night co main or main event material. And main card material for a pay per view card. Winner of that fight could be propelled into the top 5.

Jean’s next fight: Brian Ortega/ Patricio Pitbull

Rob Font

David Martinez defeated Rob Font in a very competitive unanimous decision in the co-main event of Noche UFC. Rob is now 3-3 in his last six over the past two years. Font just lost to a fighter in Martinez that was making his UFC debut.

At this point, Font should just rebook the fight with Raul Rosas Jr. Raul is currently unranked but has a lot of name value. Raul was scheduled to fight Font at Noche UFC but withdrew due to injury. Considering Font headed into the octagon Saturday ranked at #9, he’ll likely fall a ways in the rankings. Another chance to prove himself against another hungry young fighter may be just what the doctor ordered for the 38-year-old bantamweight.

Rob’s next fight: Raul Rosas Jr

Jared Gordon

Rafa Garcia finished Jared Gordon in the final round of their bout Saturday after treating fans to a couple rounds of edge-of-your-seat action. Gordon is now 2-2 in his last four fights since his no contest against King Green in early 2023.

Low hanging fruit type matchup here, would be pairing Gordon with Diego Ferreira. Jared is 38 and Diego is 40. Both fighters were finished at Noche UFC. Gordon is 9-7, 1 NC with the promotion while Ferreira is 10-7. This fight would make a lot of sense as Ferreira was supposed to take on King Green, a former opponent of Gordon’s a couple of months ago. Both fighters are on the exact right trajectory for this fight to go down. Both fighters are fan friendly, and it could easily be a fight on the main card of a fight night.

Jared’s next fight: Diego Ferreira

Dustin Stoltzfus

Dustin Stoltzfus was out-boxed in his unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Kelvin Gastelum on the main card of Noche UFC. The 191lbs. catchweight bout (Kelvin missed weight) was a big opportunity for Dustin to take down a former title challenger and TUF winner. With the loss, Stoltzfus is now 3-7 with the UFC since being signed on the 2020 season of the Contender Series.

Dustin should fight Jackson McVey in his next fight. Jackson is a 6-1 LFA product that lost his UFC debut back in July to Brunno Ferreria. Jackson and Dustin both suffered stoppage losses to Bruno Ferreira. Brunno stopped Dustin in June of 2024 with an elbow. Jackson had struggled to get his first bout with the promotion having a fight cancelled against Christopher Ewert and Sedriques Dumas before taking on Brunno. A fight between Jackson and Dustin is a much more appropriate of a matchup for both fighters. Has the makings to be a real barn burner. Strong possibility for the loser to be one loss away from being off the roster.

Dustin’s next fight: Jackson McVey

Diego Ferreira

Alexander Hernandez dropped and finished Diego Ferreira in the second round of their fight on Saturday. The 40-year-old lightweight dropped to 10-7 within the UFC since being signed with the promotion in 2014. Ferreira has lost five of his last seven bouts since early 2021 but is 2-2 in his last four.

Diego should take on Jared Gordon as mentioned previously in the article. Ferreira has had a long UFC career and proving legitimacy with a win over Gordon could keep the ball rolling for the Brazilian.

Diego’s next fight: Jared Gordon 

Quang Le

Santiago Luna flatlined Quang Le to open the main card of Noche UFC on Saturday. Le came out the gate hot landing a few power punches, but the tide was quickly turned as Quang lost his third fight with the promotional giant. Quang is now just 1-3 with the promotion after being signed on short notice in August of 2024 (was scheduled for 2024 Contender Series fight).

Le will likely get one more shot before he is axed from the roster, if he’s lucky. A good matchup would be against Toshiomi Kazama. Toshiomi is also 1-3 with the UFC. Toshiomi has been finished in all of his appearances (Le has been finished in all but his debut). Both fighters only victories have come by way of stoppage. Not sure where a matchup like this would land on a fight night card but it would likely end with a stoppage and the loser being released from the promotion.

Quang’s next fight: Toshiomi Kazama

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García (17-4) comes into Noche UFC off a victory over Vinc Pichel in March. The Bloodline Combat Sports product looks to improve on his 5-4 UFC record and earn a ranking.

Gordon (21-7) finished Thiago Moises in May before taking this fight in San Antonio. The lightweight has fought some of the biggest names at lightweight, including Paddy Pimblett, and continues to deliver in his performances in the cage.

Round 1 – Gordon gets close and Garcia lands a stinging combo on him. Each time they came together it was a clash of combinations with both men trying to establish their will on the other.

Both men tried to set up a big right hand with jabs trying to pull their opponent into range. Garcia began to mix the calf kicks into his game and Gordon did his best to mitigate the damage. Garcia was able to land a tough straight right that wobbled Gordon for a split second, but he had his wits about him pretty quick.

Gordon threw a kick, it got caught, and Garcia landed a clean straight right hand on him. Garcia shot in and scored a takedown. Gordon rolled through forcing Garcia to his feet, and then clinched on the fence.

Round 2 – Gordon landed a big left hand, they got into the clinch, Garcia snatched a guillotine, got to mount, but Gordon defended well and got out.

Garcia spent some time with Gordon on the fence looking for the takedown, but then they hopped off the cage. They got to the middle and started to throw to the excitement of the crowd.

Phone booth fighting as they both accepted the challenge for about a minute. Landing on each other Gordon did hurt Garcia for a second, but recovery came quick. Gordon got the better of the round landing heavy shots on Garcia and hurting him repeatedly, but he wasn’t able to get him out of there in the second. Garcia ended the round with a blast double takedown.

Round 3 – These two decided to start off phone booth fighting as they both landed heavy shots on the other. A big elbow for Garcia, he made a point to throw as many as he could through the fight, scored big time. It seems that it may have hurt Gordon as Garcia started landing clean hooks on Gordon that would have put a normal man out.

Just under 3 minutes and Garcia landed a massive shot that hurt Gordon. Garcia went for the choke, Gordon went to his back, and Garcia gave him a very unhealthy serving of elbows to score the finish at Noche UFC.

Official Result: Rafa Garcia def. Jared Gordon via R3 TKO, 2:27

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Gordon (21-7, 1NC), who has faced the likes of Paddy Pimblett, King Green, and Charles Oliveira during his run with the company, knocked out Brazilian vet Thiago Moises on the preliminary portion of Saturday’s Fight Night card.

“It’s a long time coming, man. I think everyone knew, that’s how good I was, and that’s how good I am,” Gordon stated following the bout, speaking with media outlets in attendance including Cageside Press. “I just had to show it.”

Without getting into specifics, Gordon admitted that he had to make a few changes to get to this point. “I had to do a few things, some soul searching just to get things right. There’s no better time than now. I’m not 30 years old anymore, but I’m the smartest, most spiritually grounded, and healthiest I’ve ever been. So there’s no reason I can’t do great things.”

Past losses in fights he was winning seem to have gotten to Gordon, to some extent at least. “When you go into a fight and you win the fight, and then you still lose somehow, it kind of messes with you,” he noted. “Obviously there’s a few fights in my past that, that’s what happened. So I would go home and be like ‘I don’t understand, I won the fight, and I still lost.'”

Gordon believes he’s finally “found the key” after making a few personal changes. “Here I am, I’m the best I’ve ever been. I’ve shown in the last four, five fights, this is how good I am. Those fights weren’t flukes. This is me.”

One of those debatable fights was Gordon’s loss to Paddy Pimblett, which all but a single media outlet (this outlet included) scored for Gordon, per MMA Decisions. Still, it appears there’s no bad blood there, as Gordon expressed admiration for Pimblett, who recently defeated Michael Chandler, landing him in the title picture at lightweight.

“Listen, I’m Michael Chandler’s teammate, and I knew how that fight was going to go. I’m not trying to talk sh*t about Mike, he’s a friend of mine, we’re friendly, but they did a great job matching Paddy is what I’m trying to say here,” Gordon said of Pimblett’s recent performance. “And I’m not trying to talk sh*t about Mike because we are friends, but he is 2-5 or whatever he is in the UFC. He beat [Tony] Ferguson, and he caught [Dan] Hooker in the first whatever it was, two minutes the first round. That can happen to anyone.”

“Man I like Paddy bro. How do you not like him? F*cking guy is funny, he’s likeable, he’s winning. He’s got the f*cking greatest walkout ever. When I fought him and he walked out, I was like ‘holy sh*t this is f*cking amazing.’ It took twenty minutes for him to get to the cage, I’m like ‘man I’m f*cking getting cold in here, but I’m enjoying this.'”

Gordon saw that again in Miami when Pimblett walked out to face Chandler. “And I like him. Every time I see him we have fun, we laugh, we were f*cking eating cookies together or some sh*t. He’s a star bro, and I give it to him, he backs up the talk too. It’s not like he’s just, he makes it exciting. It’s not like he’s just going in there and it’s boring. His fights are fun to f*cking watch, and he’s a star. And I’m happy for him. Would I fight him again? Of course, I’ll f*cking fight anyone. But I’m happy for him.”

And no doubt happy for himself following one of the best performances of his career on Saturday.

Watch Jared Gordon’s full UFC Vegas 106 post-fight media appearance above.

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The fight found Gordon competing for the first time since June 2024, when he dropped a split decision to Nasrat Haqparast. Moises for his part was coming in off a win over Trey Ogden earlier this year.

The pair went to the mat within seconds as the fight got underway, Gordon on top, working from a very active Moises guard. Moises was looking to isolate an arm, and throughout the ground sequence, was very active off his back, also working on a triangle at one point. It was back on the feet, however, where the end came. Though it did leave Moises on his back once again. Towards the end of the round, Gordon countered a Moises left hook with a nasty overhand right. That hit by the ear, and Thiago Moises crumpled, head snapping to the side.

Gordon pounced, landing another big shot or two before the ref got in to make the save. Moises was done the instant that right hand connected, however, and Gordon had secured one of the better victories of his 29-fight professional career.

Official Result: Jared Gordon def. Thiago Moises by KO (overhand right), Round 1, 3:37

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The Fight Night event takes place Saturday (that would be February 15) at the UFC Apex, headlined by middleweights Jared Cannonier and Gregory Rodrigues. Earlier in the night, Jared Gordon was to have faced off against Kauê Fernandes, but visa issues bounced Fernandes from the fight.

Taking his place on short notice was newcomer Mashrabjon Ruzibaev. However, Ruzibaev failed to weigh in on Friday at the UFC Vegas 102 official weigh-in. Jared Gordon did hit the scales, and made weight, after which, the fight was announced as cancelled to due a Ruzibaev illness.

No details have emerged as of yet as to the nature of the illness, and whether or not it was related to Ruzibaev’s weight cut.

Gordon hit the scale at 156lbs. He hasn’t competed since a loss to Nasrat Haqparast last June, so hopefully he gets paid something for his efforts.

UFC Vegas 102 now moves forward with the following confirmed match-ups:

• Jared Cannonier vs. Gregory Rodrigues
• Calvin Kattar vs. Youssef Zalal
• Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Dylan Budka
• Ismael Bonfim vs. Nazim Sadykhov
• Rodolfo Vieira vs. Andre Petroski
• Connor Matthews vs. Jose Delgado
• Angela Hill vs. Ketlen Souza
• Rafael Estevam vs. Jesus Aguilar
• Gabriel Bonfim vs. Khaos Williams
• Vince Morales vs. Elijah Smith
• Don’Tale Mayes vs. Valter Walker
• Julia Avila vs. Jaqueline Cavalcanti

The post UFC Vegas 102 Loses Fight As Mashrabjon Ruzibaev Fails to Weigh In appeared first on Cageside Press.

The promotion’s debut in the Middle Eastern nation saw the main card on broadcast network ABC, though Haqparast and Gordon had to settle for airing their business on ESPN. Both men were coming into the fight off wins, but it was Harparast with a full head of steam, having won three straight.

The first round started with both men measuring each other out before Gordon quickly closed the distance and clinched up. Gordon was able to pick up a single leg attempt, but Nasrat regained his footing. Jared was able to land a couple of punches in transition.  Haqparast landed some punches as Gordon again regained the single and looked to land punches while his opponent was off balance. Two minutes into the round, and Gordon was walking down Haqparast, and ate a left hand before attempting yet another takedown. Nasrat was able to successfully defend the takedown and return to the feet moving around on the outside and popping his jab.

With 90 seconds left in the round, Gordon shot another unsuccessful takedown but continued to apply pressure on his opponent. Haqparast was able to again land some shots on the feet before again having to defend a takedown. Nasrat landed some nice short shots on the way up from defending the takedown. In the last 30 seconds of the round, Nasrat really showed off his hand speed land landing punches from a variety of angles and stunning Gordon.

To open the second round, Haqparast got right to work landing a huge left hand. Gordon returned with a high kick of his own, as the two men began to really start engaging. Gordon winged a few shots towards his opponent, landing a big shot, which Nasrat wore well. Gordon again tried a takedown but disengaged, obviously more interested in landing punches and moving forward. Gordon continued to walk forward and was able to corner his opponent against the cage and land some short strikes. Midway thru the round there was a momentary break in the action, due to exposed tape on the hands of Gordon.

When the action restarted, Gordon lost his footing on a high kick but got up and continued to move forward. With 90 seconds left in the round Gordon was still moving forward landing punches on Haqparast. Nasrat began to wilt a little bit under the pressure. With a few seconds left in the round the two men were standing in the center exchanging punches. They both looked fatigued.

To open the final round, Gordon landed a head kick as the two men exchanged jabs. Gordon looked for a single leg but immediately released it. Both fighters continued to exchange on the feet a crazy rate. Gordon continued to walk his opponent down throwing mostly his lead hand and eating punches from Nasrat.

With two minutes left in the round, both men had accumulated a lot of damage on their faces. Nasrat was able to get his jab to work a little better as Gordon began to get backed up a little bit. In the last seconds of the fight both men continued to throw down in the center of the octagon. Clearly a fight of the night and fight of the year contender in a true barn burner, with a questionable decision on the scorecards, with many scoring the fight for Gordon, but Nasrat Haqparast taking the win.

Official Result: Nasrat Haqparast def. Jared Gordon by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

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“It’s been a long year for me. Lot of ups and down. More downs than ups,” Gordon told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“It’s coming to my hometown. I was literally in this area for years training at Renzo Gracie’s. I feel like a broken record because I’ve said this 50 times already.”

Madison Square Garden is more than just a fight venue for Gordon. It’s the mecca of sports in his hometown where he has family ties in combat sports.

“My grandfather fought in Madison Square Garden four times. He was a pro boxer. He was really good too. He’s 38-3 as a pro. Better record than mine.”

Getting the finish at MSG against Madsen who had never been TKO’d before was a big moment for Gordon.

“It’s pretty high on the list definitely. I guess it’s the highest moment for me. My debut was pretty cool, my UFC debut, but losing to Paddy (Pimblett) was pretty cool too,” Gordon said with a smile.

With 14 bouts in the UFC Gordon still fought on the early prelim portion of UFC 295 which is odd for a fighter who has done so much in the promotion.

“It’s never going to be easy for me no matter what I do in life. Everything’s always been like a struggle. Nothing was ever handed to me. Nothing has ever been handed to like my friends and family,” he said.

“Everyone that’s surrounded me has like a tough go at sh*t.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Jared Gordon above.

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Of course, for Gordon, the chance to fight at the fabled Madison Square Garden in New York was more than just a chance to right the ship. Gordon grew up in the city, training for a time at Renzo Gracie’s jiu-jitsu academy not far from MSG.

A recovered addict who turned his life around, the chance to fight at home had been a long time coming for “Flash” Gordon, and was another milestone in a remarkable personal journey.

Early on, former Olympian Madsen found success with knees in the clinch, repeatedly drilling Gordon with several. Clinch work would be key for the Danish lightweight, as he was able to put his weight on the American. A left hand was there for Madsen as well, in a strong first half to the opening round for Mark O. Madsen.

The second half of the frame was a different story entirely. Gordon found success late, landing an uppercut that appeared to wobble Madsen. Then, against the fence, Gordon landed an elbow, and a right hand that finally dropped Madsen. No follow-up was required; Madsen was clearly done and Jared Gordon had arguably the biggest win of his career, and certainly on the biggest stage possible.

“I grew up in this city, New York, New York. You made me. Astoria, Queens. Stand up! My grandfather fought in this stadium four times,” Gordon called out after the win, noting that he used to shoot drugs at Penn Station under MSG. “Now I’m fighting in it, and knocking guys out. You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it and have a little faith in God.”

That win should help erase the sour taste left by a No Contest against Bobby Green, and controversial loss to Paddy Pimblett.

Official Result: Jared Gordon def. Mark O. Madsen by TKO, Round 1, 4:42

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Gordon (19-6, 1NC) has the sort of backstory that would make for a fantastic bio-pic or late career memoir. He’s overcome addiction to find himself in the largest mixed martial arts promotion on the planet, where he has held is own for six years and counting.

As a New Yorker himself, competing at UFC 295 in MSG later this month is more than just big. “Dude, it’s obviously a monumental thing,” Gordon told Cageside Press recently. “A big part of my career, and I think it’s all part of my destiny.”

Fighting runs in the family for Jared Gordon. His grandfather, Sal Ferello, was a boxer who himself fought under the bright lights of the Garden, for starters. “My grandfather fought there I think three or four times. He was pretty good, he was 38-3 as a pro. He’s from Harlem. I was born in Manhattan, raised in Astoria, I used to train at Renzo [Gracie]’s which is two blocks from the Garden, so I used to walk by it every day looking at it. I used to shoot dope at Penn Station which is underneath the Garden, so for me to be in the Garden fighting and getting the W is huge.”

Getting to this point hasn’t been easy, of course. Gordon is coming off of a couple of rough nights at the office: a No Contest against Bobby Green due to a clash of heads, and a loss to Paddy Pimblett that nearly everyone saw Gordon winning.

“I think it’s pretty fair to say I beat Paddy, and then I was winning that fight with Bobby. Pretty, like, I think it was obvious to most people that I was winning that fight. And the judges on the cards. I was up on strikes and everything, then I got headbutted and it was just really unfortunate. I think it should have been a DQ, but whatever.”

Six weeks after the Green setback, Gordon was booked against Jim Miller, only to be pulled from the bout. He’d been open about experiencing concussion-like symptoms at the time. “Whatever. That’s the past, bro, But yeah it was tough for me to get over it. I’m happy, things always seem to have a way of working out for me for the better. And here we are, got a big fight coming up, MSG, so I’m just focused on this right now.”

Mark O. Madsen is the opponent come November 11 at UFC 295. A silver medal winner in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Madsen is no easy out— but Gordon is liking the match-up.

“I think all around, well I know I’m a better fighter than him. I’ve got a lot more experience than him fight-wise,” explained Gordon. “He’s obviously a competitor, he was an Olympic medalist so he knows what it’s like to get up on a big stage and have to compete. But I believe I’m the better striker, I believe on the ground I’m better. He’s a Greco wrestler so he’s good in the clinch. I’m not going to underestimate by any means though, but I just think all-around I’m better than him.”

“I think I’m in better shape than him, I think I keep the pace higher, and I just think that I’m hungrier bro. He’s been at it for a long time,” Gordon added. “Obviously he hasn’t been fighting for a long time, but he’s a little older than me. I feel like I’ve been chomping at the bit for this past year or so, just trying to get to that next level, and this is my time. I’m really hungry, I’ve prepared so well for this, I’m the best fighter I’ve ever been and I just think that stylistically, it’s a great fight for me.”

Watch our full interview with UFC 295 lightweight Jared Gordon above.

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“Yeah when you come in here on press day, and you announce that you had a concussion six weeks ago, and you healed yourself from the concussion…you’re done. We’re not going to let you fight,” White told reporters at his post-fight scrum on Saturday.

“He should have told us six weeks ago. You should have showed at least the company and your opponent some respect and at least did that six weeks ago.”

Gordon (19-6) went into media day on Wednesday to talk about the matchup with Miller. There he revealed that he had suffered a concussion against Bobby Green that he had treated himself. A day later he was pulled off the card.

“I had a minor concussion, but I got over the symptoms fairly quickly,” Gordon had told reporters on Wednesday.

“I did everything I could to recover. Supplements, I was in a hyperbaric chamber for the last six weeks. At this point in my career sometimes you’ve got to risk it a little bit to get what you want. I think a little bit of risk is not too bad. I’m risking it anyway going in there, even if I didn’t have that outcome six weeks ago.”

White wasn’t impressed in the least and let loose on Gordon on Saturday night.

“You’re not a f*cking doctor. You didn’t cure yourself from a concussion. Was he self-diagnosed or did he go to a doctor and did a doctor diagnose him with a concussion? You have to be honest when you get injuries,” White said.

“And of course the minute we hear about it…no fight is worth keeping on if it’s going to risk somebody’s health, safety, longevity, whatever it might be. We will pull you out in 2.5 seconds.”

White did shield his matchmakers from any wrongdoing by pointing out that they didn’t know Gordon had a concussion.

“No he’s not at fault if we know we’ve got a healthy guy that’s going into a fight. Like I say all the time with this thing, with Slap, we spend the money to make sure that we have healthy guys competing,” said White.

“We’ve dealt with this in the past. Guys have come in media week and said crazy sh*t about what happened in their training camp and stuff like that. And we yank them. It’s absolutely consistent with what we’ve always done.”

The post Dana White On Jared Gordon Withdrawal: “You’re Not A F*cking Doctor” appeared first on Cageside Press.