TUF 19 winner Eddie “Truck” Gordon was a highlight throughout the series. Whether it was his interaction with the other fighters in the house or his dominance in the cage, it was obvious that he was a stand-out. It’s really no surprise he did so well once you look at where he came from.
Gordon trains out of Ray Longo’s camp in New York with Coaches like Matt Serra, and Longo himself. He also has an array of top level fighters to train with, anyone ever hear of a guy named Chris Weidman?
I got the chance to sit down with Eddie and get the scoop on what’s been happening since his days in the fighter house, his next fight, and how he ended up training with the world’s best.
Aaron Robbins: Eddie, thank you for taking some time out for me. Give the fans a little insight into your life since you left TUF.
Eddie Gordon: “It’s pretty much been surrounded around my family and kids. The good thing is, with fighting now full time I get to be a bigger part of my kid’s life. I get to attend school functions. I get to pick them up and help them with their homework. I even started coaching their football team. I always said that I didn’t want to be the dad who coaches their kids, so I made a rule. When I’m on the sidelines, I’m coach, I’m not dad and I’ve been having a lot of fun with that. Football is my first love and to watch the boys play is really exciting. I’m big on the kids getting a good experience. The last thing you want is for kids to not get a chance to play or to think there are favorites. They get a bad experience and they may not want to play again. I love football and I want to share that with all the younger kids.”
AR: I’m sure the kids are in good hands with Coach Truck. While we are on the subject of your boys, this has got to be amazing for them. They get to see their dad on TV fighting and doing what he worked so hard for.
EG: “Let me tell you something, my kids are my biggest critics. They go to the gym all the time with me. God bless Chris (Weidman) and Ray (Longo) because they run the gym wild when they are there. They kind of keep me grounded man, because they will tell me, you didn’t do this so good, or you could’ve done that better. They actually really love the sport. It’s funny because when we were in Vegas, they didn’t want to take any pictures with me. They just wanted to be around all the other guys, they told me their friends at school wouldn’t think it’s cool to be in a picture with their dad. For them to see me living my dream and going for it, it’s huge and teaches them a lot of life lessons.”
AR: At the end of the day, you’re just dad huh?
EG: “Exactly, I asked them who their favorite fighters are, and I’m not even in the top three. That’s kids for ya.”
AR: Sounds like your family is a great source of strength for you, that’s awesome. Now for the fans that haven’t heard the story, tell us how you went from Eddie Gordon every-man, to hooking up with Chris Weidman and ending up on TUF.
EG: “It’s kind of weird man, I was a banker. I was in the business world, and I did the nine-to-five thing. I was sitting there watching a PPV, I think it was B.J. Penn vs Diego Sanchez, and I was thinking it was pretty awesome. I was over at my friend’s house, I looked at them and said ‘I could do this’. They all thought I was out of my mind. I more or less let it go until I ended up going to UFC 101. When I was in the arena live, I had the biggest adrenaline rush. I could see myself in that cage. I saw the sport through different eyes than the average viewer. Then sure enough I ended up running into Chris Weidman like two weeks after the event, we wrestled in high school together. I was shooting the breeze with him, and asked him what he was up to. He said he was doing the MMA thing, and that I would be good at it. He invited me down to the gym and introduced my to Ray Longo and Matt Serra and the rest is, as they say, history.”
AR: Well there is something to be said about wrestling in high school with a future UFC champion who dethroned arguably the best fighter on earth to get his title. You also have two of the best coaches in Longo and Serra backing you up. Tell us what’s it like training out of that amazing gym.
EG: “Oh man, It’s unreal. I think Dana (White) said it best, he said realistically it’s one of the best fight camps in the world. The thing about Ray is that he really doesn’t toot his own horn. A lot of people don’t realize that we have a bunch of great coaching in that gym, not just Ray and Matt. Everybody works well together, and there is no ego inside of there. The ultimate purpose is to have every single fighter excel.
“We consider ourselves the Serra-Longo family. We have team bar-b-ques together, we hang out. We have a lot of young talent, and we don’t go out and recruit talent. People come to the classes, they say they want to fight, and they start taking amateur fights. After that they start working up the ranks. It’s just home-grown talent from the Long Island area, and we have some studs over there. Al Iaquinta is making a lot of noise at this point, that dude is a stud. Aljermain Sterling is another stand-out, there is no doubt in my mind that he is going to be a champion at 135. We take tough fights, no easy fights and I think we have a great thing going on. We have very structured classes and I think it’s pretty rare to have four or five UFC guys taking the advanced classes right along with the normal students. It helps everybody to have a goal to shoot for. It makes it tangible so the dream can become a reality.”
AR: Amazing stuff going on over there in Long Island. Eddie tell us what it was like to beat Dhiego Lima and get that coveted contract.
EG: “It was bitter-sweet man. I was fighting for my dreams, but it kind of sucked to fight a guy that I was so close to. We were actually roommates. We would talk like every night and we would say ‘now listen, this is what we got to do. We got to get to the finals even if we end up opponents’. So like I said, Bitter-sweet. I’m excited for him too. He’s dropping down to 170 and he his going to make some waves in the UFC.
“I said going into the show I didn’t care where I was picked or what team I ended up on. I knew as long as I got into the house it was going to be tough for anybody to take me out because I was so focused and dedicated. I was fortunate because not only had Matt Serra been on the show previously, but Al Iaquinta was a finalist as well, so they kind of prepared me mentally to be on the show. You’re not going to be 100% you have to fight several times in 5 weeks and continue making weight. It’s a mental thing, you might not be 100% physically, but you have to be 110% on mentally.”
AR: It was just announced that you will be fighting Josh Samman. What are your thoughts going into this one.
EG: “I don’t know the guy personally, but I watched TUF 17. I was pretty bummed out because I was supposed to be on that season, so I’m excited to be able to fight him. I don’t know him personally, but he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way and seems very arrogant. It’s a thin line between cocky and confident. Stylistically he’s an aggressive guy who likes to come forward and trade. He’s good all-around. I want to bring the fight to him. Once the fight gets closer we will start breaking down his style and pick apart his bad habits, but for now I’m just focusing on me. Getting that cardio, getting that weight-training. I’m focusing in at getting better on my strengths and my weaknesses.”
AR: I can’t wait to see you back in the cage. Is there anything else you want to say before we finish?
EG: “Yeah I want to say it’s a travesty that we can’t fight in our home town. It’s crazy to me that politics are getting in-between sports and having fights here. We have three or four home town guys that can’t fight here and that’s just sad. I would also like to say I don’t think everybody realizes how much it takes to be a fighter. You see one guy go in the cage against another guy, but there is so much more taking place. You have the training camp, the training partners, and all the sponsors. It takes a lot. It really bothers me when I go to a fight and I hear people boo. I don’t think they get it. I mean they pay a lot of money to see the fights so I guess they can boo or cheer, but I just hope they respect the fighters. I think most of the true MMA fans get it, they are loyal and educated and that is huge for our sport.”
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