When did Jared Gordon make his UFC debut?

Jared Gordon made his UFC debut against Michel Quinones at UFC Fight Night 112. He was signed to the promotion after being scouted by Dana White in the second season of Dana White: Looking for a Fight. Gordon was offered a contract after winning the Cage Fury Fighting Championship's featherweight title.

'Flash' was scheduled to fight at featherweight for his UFC debut but missed weight by four pounds, so the fight was made into a catchweight bout. Gordon beat Quinones by TKO in the second round.

Gordon moved up to lightweight in his next fight against Hacran Dias at UFC Fight Night 119. While he beat Dias by decision, his first stint in the division was generally lackluster. 'Flash' lost three out of five fights, getting knocked out by Charles 'do Bronx' Oliveira in the fifth fight. Following his loss to the Brazilian, Gordon made a return to featherweight but missed weight against his next two opponents, Chris Fishgold and Danny Chavez.

Jared Gordon made his return to the lightweight division against Joe Solecki at UFC Fight Night 193. In his last three fights at lightweight, Gordon has won two fights and lost one.

Gordon has amassed a UFC record of 7-4 and his overall MMA record is 19-5. He fights out of Queens, New York and is affiliated with Renzo Gracie Academy. The American fighter has a background in boxing and wrestling and holds a brown belt in jiu-jitsu under John Danaher. He stands 5'9" (175 cm) tall and has a reach of 68 inches.

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Jared Gordon's history with addiction and recovery

Jared Gordon started using prescribed pain medications to manage his training injuries when he was around 19 years old. He was addicted to heroin by age 21 and was homeless by 23, where he would panhandle to make ends meet. He checked himself into a rehabilitation center, became clean and returned to fighting soon after.

However, Gordon suffered several orbital bone fractures after a fight with Jeff Lentz in 2015 for which he was prescribed pain medications. This caused him to relapse, which led to an overdose. He eventually recovered after checking into rehab after his third overdose the same year, where the doctors declared him legally dead for two minutes.

'Flash' has been on the road to recovery since 2015. In an interview with Jersey Jerry, Gordon detailed his history with addiction and recovery.

Check out a clip of the interview below:

Jared Gordon is an advocate for mental health and substance abuse recovery. He regularly posts about his substance abuse journey and recovery on his Twitter handle.

Gordon expressed an interest in fighting Paddy Pimblett to raise awareness for mental health. He made the callout after this victory over Solecki at UFC Fight Night 193 last October. Paddy responded to the callout with a tweet expressing an interest in fighting the New York native. On Saturday, it was announced that the fighters will face each other at UFC 282 in December.