A featherweight battle between two former lightweight campaigners is in the works for “Fight Island” on July 15.
Pending finalization, former UFC lightweight [autotag]Jared Gordon[/autotag] and former Cage Warriors lightweight champion [autotag]Chris Fishgold[/autotag] will face off in a 145-pound matchup on the UFC’s second “Fight Island” card at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie following an initial report from MMA Fighting on Saturday. The person asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Gordon (15-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) is making the drop to 145 pounds after a five-fight run at lightweight. He went 2-3 as a UFC lightweight, picking up unanimous decision wins against Hacran Dias and Dan Moret, but suffering stoppage defeats to Diego Ferreira, Joaquim Silva, and, most recently, Charles Oliveira.
He’ll face off against England’s Fishgold (18-3-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC), who picked up his first octagon victory at the second attempt, courtesy of a second-round submission of Sweden’s Daniel Teymur at UFC on ESPN+ 3 in February 2019.
Fishgold’s last outing saw him succumb to a second-round anaconda choke from Finland’s Makwan Amirkhani at UFC on ESPN+ 11 last June, and after missing out on his scheduled bout with Billy Quarantillo in December, the Liverpool native will look to bounce back against Gordon on July 15.
With the addition, the current July 15 lineup includes:
- Carla Esparza vs. Marina Rodriguez
- Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Mounir Lazzez
- Aleksander Doskalchuk vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Vincius Moreira
- Chris Fishgold vs. Jared Gordon
[vertical-gallery id=418529]
[vertical-gallery id=385960]