Malcolm Gordon is aware that he did the right thing, even though he doesn’t brag about it.
The Canadian flyweight won his second straight fight Saturday at UFC Vegas 47, earning a first-round victory over highly touted newcomer Denys Bondar when Bondar suffered an arm injury in Round 1. The fight was stopped by Mark Smith less than 90 second into the bout. Gordon won the TKO.
At the evening’s post-fight press conference, Gordon told reporters that he actually broke Bondar’s arm with a submission attempt before the fateful scramble against the cage that revealed the injury.
“Obviously, we’re all martial artists and we want to get in and perform, so I’m not going in there trying to hurt the guy or anything like that,” Gordon said (h/t MMA Junkie). It was tight, and I felt it when I received that armbar. We have to keep doing what is necessary to win the finish. He was tough though. That arm broke in the armbar and I felt it break and then it was in the transition of him standing up when it broke and once he stood up, I was like, OK, it’s gonna be a matter of time before he realizes that this thing is broken. And then I just decided that we would just kind of lean him against the fence and let him touch the hand on the ground.
” It was smart of me and once it happened, he realized what he had done. It’s terrible. I know I wouldn’t want to harm people but it is unfortunate. I hope he has a speedy recovery. I know he’s coming off of a couple of injuries and this was his first fight in two years and I really do hope and wish him the best and for him to come back stronger from this too.”
Gordon answered the question, “Remember Bondar’s broken arm?”
“Absolutely, I felt it,” Gordon said. “I heard it, everything. Everything. This is not my first experience with it. I have done it several times. The first time it ever happened to me I felt terrible and then every time whichever, you get used to it. But you also understand that you’ve got to play the game too.”
Prior to Saturday’s victory, Gordon had five submission victories by armbar and kimura in his career. He improved to 2-2 in the UFC after losing his first two fights for the promotion in 2020.
Gordon couldn’t say exactly what was next for him now that he’s on the winning track, but he expressed enthusiasm at his prospects.
“I have no idea,” Gordon said in response to a question about who he might fight next. This whole division is getting very exciting. It’s exciting to see 135 guys come down.
“Obviously, there’s a couple of losses that are in the octagon that I would love to get back and prove myself, but at the same time I’ve got to move forward and maybe there’s somebody else out there. The flyweight divisione excites me and there’s a lot of exciting fighters and anybody, anybody, anybody can get it.”
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