Melquizael Costa brought the fireworks to UFC 334 on Saturday night, but Jared Gordon brought enough wrestling to ruin anybody’s evening. In a high-stakes clash of contrasting styles inside the Octagon, Costa’s lightning-fast hands and vicious kicks made Gordon look like he was fighting in slow motion during the opening exchanges of the night.
For the early portion of the matchup, it appeared as though Costa’s distinct advantages in speed and variety would completely dictate the pace and outcome of the contest. However, MMA is rarely a one-sided affair for long. Gordon eventually figured out that getting repeatedly punched in the face was not a winning strategy and quickly adjusted his approach. What followed was a grueling, three-round battle featuring relentless takedowns, dangerous submission attempts, and enough high-octane scrambling to exhaust everyone watching inside the arena and at home. Costa ultimately survived Gordon’s suffocating ground game, maintaining enough composure and offensive output earlier and in between grappling exchanges to walk away with a hard-fought victory that left plenty of room for post-fight debate among fans and analysts alike.
Round 1
Gordon wasted no time establishing forward pressure as the opening frame got underway, carefully circling away from Costa’s powerful side while searching for an opening through the Brazilian’s defenses. Costa, however, was entirely uninterested in giving him an easy way in, firing heavy, calculated shots and landing a nasty body kick early in the round to stake his claim. Gordon looked for an immediate opportunity to close the distance and initiate a wrestling exchange, but Costa’s sharp counters and aggressive posture were making him think twice about getting too close for comfort.
As the round progressed, Gordon eventually rushed forward with a sudden flurry of punches, landing a few solid scoring shots of his own while narrowly avoiding Costa’s stinging counterattack. Rather than backing down, Costa responded by continuing to punish the midsection with heavy, thudding kicks. Once Gordon started over-committing to defending those punishing body shots, Costa seamlessly began sending his kicks upstairs, signaling that defending just one part of his body wasn’t going to be enough for Gordon to survive the onslaught.
Costa eventually allowed himself to get a little too comfortable near the fence, giving Gordon a window of opportunity to shoot for a takedown. Unfortunately for the American veteran, the attempt quickly degraded into a messy clinch against the cage, and Costa escaped without absorbing much damage. Costa followed up on the break with another clean body kick, though Gordon managed to absorb the brunt of the impact safely on his arm.
Capitalizing on the momentary distance, Costa connected with a sharp, lightning-fast left hand that made the stark speed difference between the two fighters painfully obvious. It was clear that Gordon was going to need near-perfect timing if he wanted to catch Costa coming forward on the attack; otherwise, he was running a very real risk of getting his head knocked into the cheap seats.
Costa continued mixing up his diverse arsenal of kicks, seamlessly switching targets between the body and the head while keeping Gordon guessing at every turn. While Gordon managed to block most of the incoming head kicks with a high guard and a single arm, Costa’s relentless and varied attack was visibly beginning to take a toll. Every subtle movement, feint, and step from Costa had Gordon reacting instantly, anticipating something dangerous coming his way.
The pressure mounted further when Costa cracked Gordon clean with a crisp left hand that appeared to momentarily ring his bell. Rather than recklessly rushing forward and abandoning his technical discipline in search of an immediate finish, Costa stayed patient, composed, and continued picking his spots with surgical precision. Gordon was clearly having severe trouble dealing with the sheer speed, volume, and unpredictability of Costa’s striking offense.
With the opening round rapidly winding down, Gordon finally managed to push Costa backward toward the fence, successfully securing a tight clinch. He desperately worked every angle for a last-minute takedown, hoping to steal some crucial momentum before the horn sounded. Unfortunately for him, the clock had other plans, and Gordon simply ran out of time before he could get Costa flatly onto the canvas.
Round 2
Gordon came out for the second stanza determined to reclaim the initiative by pressing Costa once again, but Costa had entirely different plans in mind. The Brazilian turned up the heat significantly, unleashing a ridiculous variety of dynamic kicks—attacking high, low, and even mixing in unpredictable spinning attacks that left the arena buzzing. Gordon was visibly having immense trouble figuring out what type of strike was coming next. Unfortunately for Costa, he eventually got a little too creative with a jumping knee attempt, and Gordon made him pay dearly for the miscalculation. Gordon seized the golden opportunity, caught the airborne attack mid-stride, and forcefully planted Costa flatly on the canvas.
Gordon immediately settled comfortably into top position, but Costa was not about to make things easy or hand over a dominant position without a fight. From his back, Costa actively threw up a tight triangle choke, looking to completely turn a bad defensive situation into a dramatic submission victory. Gordon wisely responded by stacking Costa tightly against his own body and unloading a series of heavy, unanswered left hands straight to the head. Costa desperately tried to adjust the angle of the choke to secure the tap, but Gordon eventually muscled his way free of the danger zone.
Even after losing the initial grip, Costa wasn’t finished hunting for the submission, briefly threatening Gordon with another rolling triangle attempt. However, Gordon continued applying suffocating pressure, eventually escaping the submission danger entirely while tightly maintaining his top control. Costa scrambled frantically to slip out from underneath his opponent, but Gordon stayed glued to him like a backpack.
Gordon steadily worked his way to Costa’s back and immediately started hunting for a rear-naked choke. Costa continued his wild scrambling, but Gordon managed to secure his hooks deeply and firmly establish dominant back control. The sequence grew even more dramatic when Costa threatened to violently slam Gordon onto his head to break the hold. Recognizing the severe danger, Gordon wisely abandoned the back-mount position rather than risk getting introduced to the canvas face-first.
Maintaining his relentless forward momentum, Gordon stayed aggressive in the ensuing clinch, landing a hard right hand upstairs before mixing in stinging knees to Costa’s legs. He quickly followed up with another heavy left hand from close range, keeping Costa under constant, suffocating pressure. Gordon then changed levels to attack a clean single-leg takedown before smartly switching to a double-leg, dragging a weary Costa right back down to the ground.
Back in top position, Gordon went straight to work, mixing punishing ground-and-pound strikes with calculated attempts to advance his positional dominance. Apparently, simply controlling Costa wasn’t enough to satisfy the American; Gordon wanted to beat him up and improve his position simultaneously.
Costa managed to trap Gordon temporarily in half-guard near the fence, which successfully slowed down Gordon’s positional advances for a brief moment. Gordon remained entirely in control, pinning Costa against the cage while hunting for another opening. Just moments before the final horn of the round sounded, Gordon connected with a massive right hand to put an emphatic exclamation point on a dominant frame.
Round 3
Costa opened the final round with a clear sense of urgency, looking to take Gordon’s head off with a blistering high kick, but Gordon saw the strike coming the entire way. Ducking cleanly underneath the dangerous attack in one fluid motion, Gordon shot for a timely takedown and put Costa right back where he had spent most of the previous rounds—flat on the canvas. Costa managed to scramble back to his feet through sheer grit, but Gordon immediately went right back to hunting for another takedown. By this point in the bout, Costa was surely getting thoroughly exhausted of seeing the Octagon canvas so closely.
Costa desperately tried scrambling out of danger once again, but Gordon’s suffocating wrestling was quickly becoming an insurmountable problem. Every single time Costa thought he had carved out a viable escape route, Gordon was already anticipating his movement and waiting for him. Costa worked hard to get to his hands and knees before frantically crawling toward the fence, hoping to use the cage structure to hoist himself back to his feet. Unfortunately for him, Gordon stayed completely glued to his opponent, constantly micro-adjusting his position to shut down every single escape attempt.
Costa eventually fought his way back up to a standing position through sheer determination, creating just enough separation to land a sharp body kick. However, Gordon had absolutely no interest in allowing Costa to get comfortable or find a rhythm on the feet. He immediately charged forward aggressively and secured yet another takedown, dragging Costa right back down into his preferred world of grappling and control.
Refusing to stay pinned down, Costa scrambled once more, eventually getting back to his feet to return to the striking game that had brought him success early on. He began attacking Gordon’s midsection before unloading crisp right and left hands upstairs. The glaring speed difference was once again becoming strikingly obvious, with Costa looking significantly quicker and sharper in the striking exchanges. Gordon was clearly struggling to keep up with the volume and velocity, but he possessed a very simple, time-tested solution: why bother trading punches on the feet when you can just put the other guy flat on his back?
Costa eventually fired off another flashy head kick, but Gordon ducked underneath once more with expert timing and immediately attacked the legs. Gordon secured the takedown effortlessly, dragging Costa back to the canvas while establishing secure control from behind. Costa continued fighting valiantly to escape the position, but Gordon’s relentless wrestling had systematically stripped away his opportunities to build any sustained offensive momentum.
The final horn of the night sounded with Gordon firmly controlling Costa on the ground, sending the bout directly to the judges’ official scorecards. While Costa certainly had his shining moments on the feet with his speed and dangerous kicks, Gordon’s suffocating wrestling had decisively become the deciding factor in the closing rounds of the fight.
Official Result: Melquizael Costa def. Jared Gordon via Unanimous Decision (29-28 x3)
