Gordon was born and raised in Queens, New York. The grandson of late professional boxer Sal Ferello, Gordon started boxing and wrestling at a young age and he was obsessed with MMA when he was in high school. He found an MMA school, Combined MMA, and started training BJJ. Four months later, at age of 17, Gordon fought his first amateur MMA fight. He taught boxing and Muay Thai at Church Street Boxing in New York prior to turning professional. At the same gym he was trained by Jason Strout. Gordon is a recovered drug addict and would like to use the octagon as the platform to voice his support and give hope to those who suffer the same addiction.
Gordon amassed a record of 12-1 prior joining UFC. He was the lightweight champion of Duelo De Giagantes in Mexico and featherweight champion for Cage Fury Fighting Championship in United States.
Gordon was scouted by Dana White on UFC web series show "Dana White: Looking for a fight" second season episode two at Cage Fury Fighting Championships where Gordon won the Featherweight title that night. White was impressed with his performance and signed him onto UFC. Gordon was scheduled his promotional debut to face Michel Quiñones at UFC 211. However, Gordon pulled out of the fight on the day before the event due to stomach illness and the card was removed from the event to reschedule on June 25, 2017 at in Oklahoma City. At the weigh-in,Gordon missed the required featherweight limit for the fight of 146Ibs. As a result he was fined 20% of his pay, and the bouts proceeded at catchweight. Gordon secured his first UFC win on round two via TKO. Gordon faced Hacran Dias at the lightweight bout on October 28, 2017 at. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Gordon faced Carlos Diego Ferreira on February 18, 2018 at. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round. After the loss, Gordon decided to move to Milwaukee to train at Roufusport under Duke Roufus. Gordon faced Joaquim Silva on December 15, 2018 at UFC on Fox 31. He lost the fight via knockout in round three. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award. Despite losing the two last fights of his rookie contract, he signed a new contract with the UFC after the Silva fight. Gordon faced Dan Moret on June 29, 2019 at UFC on ESPN 3. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Gordon was expected to face Leonardo Santos on November 16, 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 22. However, Santos withdrew from the fight and was replaced by Charles Oliveira. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round. Gordon was scheduled to face Matt Sayles on. However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed to a future date due to COVID-19 pandemic. Gordon faced Chris Fishgold in a featherweight bout on July 16, 2020 at. At the weigh-ins, Fishgold weighed in at 149 pounds, 3 pounds over the featherweight non-title fight limit. He was fined 20% of he purse which went to Gordon and their bout proceeded at catchweight. Gordon won the fight via unanimous decision.
Personal life
Drug addiction
Gordon used prescription pain medication to manage his pain from an injury and led him to drug addiction at the age of 19 and by 21 he was addicted to heroin. At 23, he was homeless and panhandling in the streets to support his drug habit. At some point, Gordon managed to get into a rehab program and became clean. He returned to fighting soon after. His fight against Jeff Lentz ended with Gordon suffering a broken orbital bone in five places. Due to this injury, he was given pain medication to help him deal with his injured eye and he became addicted, ultimately leading to an overdose incident. Gordon managed to beat his drug addiction and stay sober by checking himself in rehab after the third overdose in his life in 2015 left him legally dead for two minutes. He is now a recovered drug addict.
