Gordon has done well to adjust over the course of his UFC career,
even if “Flash” hasn’t lived up to the considerable hype heading
into his debut. Gordon was at his best as a pressuring
featherweight on the regional scene, but he struggled to make 145
pounds while being unable to absorb strikes from the harder hitters
in the lightweight division. That led to a combination of
uninspiring wins and frustrating losses for a few years, but Gordon
seemingly finally found a balance circa 2021, developing a crafty
boxing game that allowed him to stay out of danger but still
permitted him to pick his spots as a wrestler. Unfortunately for
Gordon, his main issue now has been running into an athletic
ceiling. While he’s no longer getting knocked out, opponents
willing to hit hard and stick to a game plan have been able to eke
out some controversial decisions against the New Yorker, namely
Paddy
Pimblett in 2022 and Nasrat
Haqparast in Gordon’s most recent fight in June. That probably
won’t be an issue against a late-notice replacement and UFC
newcomer in Ruziboev, who has rarely seen the final horn.
Ruziboev has taken a similar path to the UFC in running over a
questionable level of competition. The younger brother of UFC
welterweight Nursulton
Ruziboev, “Black Junior” comes out swinging with wild power,
and that has typically been enough to score quick wins on the
regional scene. On the rare occasions that Ruziboev’s fights go any
length of time, he does a solid enough job of continuing to wrestle
while both he and his opponent are exhausted, but that doesn’t look
like it will carry forward with this massive jump in competition.
As long as Gordon doesn’t get melted immediately, he should be able
to coast this out and drown Ruziboev over time. The pick is Gordon
via second-round stoppage.
