UFC on ESPN+ 58: Gordon vs Bondar - Prediction & Analysis - 02/05/22
Malcolm Gordon vs Denys Bondar
Malcolm Gordon (13-5) didn’t exactly have a warm welcome to the UFC, getting finished in his first two bouts by Amir Albazi and Mudaerji Su. The latter being a TKO destruction in the first minute of the fight. The UFC gave him another shot against the brother of current flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo. He managed to right the ship and defeat Francisco Figueiredo by decision. He seems to be a kill or be killed fighter as he’s been finished in all 5 of his losses but also has 10 finishes (4 TKO/KO and 6 Submissions) in his 13 victories.
Denys Bondar (16-3) dominated the Ukrainian fight scene, securing 10 straight victories en route to becoming the bantamweight WWFC champion. He’s finished the majority of his opponents throughout his career with the majority coming by way of submission. “Psycho” will be making his Octagon debut Saturday.
He will be 1 inch shorter than the Canadian. Bondar’s reach at this point seems to be unknown according to Tapology and the UFC website. I’m sure that information will be made available when he arrives in North America.
This fight was scheduled back in November but Gordon pulled out and it got rebooked for Saturday.
How They Match Up
Malcolm “X” had his job on the line last time out and he came out like a man possessed with a high work rate and grinding approach. Even with his takedowns and top control he still made a small pile of errors which resulted in him being mounted at two separate points and a brief exchange where his opponent had his back. Gordon will have to put out another grinding performance if he hopes to be victorious here. Fight footage is admittedly pretty sparse on Bondar and the guys he has fought are certainly not UFC caliber (maybe not even Ukrainian regional circuit caliber). But I do think that the strengths he possesses are ripe to exploit Malcolm’s over zealous grappling and suspect durability. If Malcolm makes the same errors this time around that he did in the last fight, he’ll end up arm triangled or ground and pounded. Give me Bondar to make a successful debut.