A lot can happen in two years, especially if you are a professional fighter. On July 6th, 2014, Eddie Gordon was stood in the centre of the UFC Octagon in Las Vegas, Nevada with his arms aloft holding The Ultimate Fighter 19 middleweight trophy. 

The best moment in his career would be followed by the worst with a run of three successive losses, starting with a stunning head kick KO at the hands of Josh Samman; a moment that is still endlessly replayed. Gordon was then released by the company in October 2015, just thirteen months after winning his contract. His UFC run had started out with glory but had fizzled to nothing. 

Life after the UFC -- no regrets

Gordon then took time away from fighting to focus on life outside of the cage and seemingly disappeared from the MMA landscape. Gordon though is a fighter at heart and the itch to return to doing what he loves the most was something that he knew he was never going to escape.

"I started some outside some outside businesses and those are doing great but that competitive nature just sitting there and buzzing inside of me," Gordon said. "I love to fight, I love to compete and fight the best guys in the world and I know I have a bunch left in the tank so I said let's do it."

Despite his poor run in the UFC, Gordon looks back at his run in the organisation with a positive attitude and uses the lessons he learned from his time there in his everyday life.

"I look at it as a great learning experience," Gordon said. "I have only fought for six or seven years and most the time was spent on the biggest stage of them all inside the UFC. For me, that's a wealth of knowledge and information that I use almost every day.

"Of course, there are fights I look back on where I made one little mistake and it cost me when I was dominating. There are things where I look and I say one little tweak here and one little tweak there and I have myself a four, five-fight win streak but, hey, it was what it was.

"Everything is a learning experience and I'm just grateful for the opportunities and the doors that it opened up for me."

His return to action with Serra-Longo at his side

With that now all behind him, Gordon is now focused on his return to the cage and it comes on Saturday night at Cage Fury Fighting Championship 60 which is taking place at the Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Gordon has been preparing for the fight with the same camp he has always trained with from the very first day he ever started in mixed martial arts--Team Serra-Longo in Long Island.

"Serra-Longo is my team man, ever since day one--I'm truly, truly blessed to be a part of it," Gordon said. "I've been working with everyone to get ready for this return. I've been working with Eric Hyer on my striking, Matt [Serra] on my ground game and been working with Ray Longo as well. 

"I've been sparring with everyone and I've been fortunate that Chris [Weidman] has just come back and he's been cleared to spar and has been cleared to go. Ray also brought guys in for me to spar so I'm just ready to get myself fully prepared for this fight."

When he makes his return on Saturday night, Gordon will be facing Chris Lozano who will also be returning to the cage after an extended period of time on the sidelines having not fought since June 2, 2012. Gordon isn't expecting it to be an easy night despite Lozano's inactivity.

Going for the finish on Saturday night

"He's fought some good guys man and he's a scrappy boxer so he's going to be tough," Gordon said. "I think it's going to be a great stylistic fight for the fans and I think they are in for an exciting night. I can't see the judges being involved in the fight at all so they can sit back and relax while I do my thing.

"I'm going for a finish, I want to do that for the fans as they always want to see the finish. Just looking at the fight we are two stylistic guys who like to trade so I see a knockout, I see a TKO and I if I have to take him down and use my ground game I can see myself finishing him there. I'm just excited man, I just want to showcase to everyone that I'm back, 'Truck' is back and there's a reason to be excited about me again."

The best fighters aren't all in the UFC

Having spent some time away from the sport, it's given Gordon some much needed time to reflect on what has gone before and set himself new targets and goals to achieve in mixed martial arts. Gordon believes he can take on fighters of the highest calibre ever and isn't getting so caught up with the fact he's not in the UFC plying his trade right now. 

"I love to compete and I love to fight," Gordon said. "I just want to fight the best guys available whether they are in UFC, WSOF, Bellator, CFFC it doesn't really matter to me. Being a fight lover I know there are great fighters everywhere you look. The UFC is by far the most recognised brand around the world but a lot of that is to do with marketing. There are seriously great fighters in every promotion and I'm just excited to be competing with them again.

"The best example I can give you is Benson Henderson, he's one of the best guys in the world and was on a massive winning streak in the UFC. He then went to Bellator and everyone was like 'man Benson is going to blow all these guys out the water'. But look what happened, he got beaten, convincingly you would say. The point is there are great fighters everywhere you look and I just want to fight them no matter where that is." 

Happiness above all else

Gordon now believes he's is returning to the cage for all the right reasons and isn't placing any pressure on his shoulders this time around. His return is all about enjoying the sport and making himself happy.

"I'm so excited man I can't tell you," Gordon said. "I'm in the cage for all the right reasons now. Too many times fighters take short notice fights and it's because they need to put food on the table because it's an expensive lifestyle. Guys take fights to just keep their heads above the water but I'm fighting now for the sheer love of the sport and the sheer love of competition."

"Whether it's UFC, CFFC or Ring Of Combat--once they lock that cage it's just you against the other guy and it's the purest form of competition. I'm going to come out there aggressive and I'm going to showcase my new skills and entertain. Saturday night it all starts again."