Eddie Gordon added to UFC card in Newark in April

Eddie "Truck" Gordon works a full-time job, raises his two sons and is a professional MMA fighter. Newsday tells the story of how this Freeport resident went from a 300-pound former college football player to the winner of Season 19 of the UFC's "Ultimate Fighter." (Credit: Newsday / Jeffrey Basinger, Mario Gonzalez, Mark La Monica)

By MARK LA MONICAmark.lamonica@newsday.com LaMonicaMarkJanuary 16, 2015

Eddie Gordon has his chance now to remove that head-kick knockout loss from people's immediate thoughts when his name pops up in conversation.

Gordon, a middleweight from Freeport, has agreed to fight Chris Dempsey at UFC Fight Night in Newark on April 18.

The 31-year-old Gordon won Season 19 of "The Ultimate Fighter" last July with a first-round knockout of Dhiego Lima. But in his follow-up fight last December, Gordon lost in the second round via knockout by Josh Samman. Gordon (8-2, 1-1 UFC) had won the first round of the Samman fight on the judges' scorecards.

Dempsey (10-2, 0-1), from Pennsylvania, debuted in the UFC last July in Ireland and lost by first-round knockout to Ilir Latifi.

Uniondale's Aljamain Sterling, a Serra-Longo teammate of Gordon, also is on the card. The bantamweight will fight Manny Gamburyan. Lyoto Machida and Luke Rockhold headline the night at the Prudential Center.