Jared Gordon earned a decision win over Hacran Dias on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night Sao Paulo.
The fighter believes if the bout weren’t contested in Dias’ home country of Brazil, then he would’ve gotten a finish over the lightweight.
“I thought he was taking a lot of punishment, and I was landing over and over with big strikes,” Gordon told MMA Junkie. “I was looking at the ref like, ‘What more do I have to do to get the finish?’ But we’re in Hacran’s home country, and respect him. He’s a tough fighter, he’s a great guy, he’s a veteran. So they gave him a chance to come back into the fight and I just have to deal with what comes, and I did what I did. I thought I deserved (the finish). It was right there. If this was somewhere else, I think they’d have stopped it.”
Gordon is currently undefeated in the UFC with a 2-0-0 record (14-1-0 overall), but he has split his time in the promotion competing at lightweight and featherweight.
For his future bouts in the Octagon, the fighter is planning on moving to and staying at featherweight.
“I truly believe I’m a featherweight,” Gordon said. “Even Hacran coming up from featherweight was bigger than me. I think if I’m going to perform at the highest level, it has to be at featherweight. I’d love to move back down, so that’s what I’m hoping for. I did have trouble (making weight) getting down there. But I’m a student of the game, and I’m trying to learn, and I’ll do what I have to do to get down there. I’ve made it before and I’ll do it again. It was the UFC’s decision, so hopefully I can sway them into letting me go back down.”
While Gordon would like to return to featherweight, the UFC has yet to notify him of which weight class his next bout is going to be at.
