UFC 297: Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis kicks off the prelims with a fight in the flyweight division between Malcolm Gordon and Jimmy Flick. Both Gordon and Flick are coming off consecutive losses and are fighting for their job when they step into the octagon this weekend at UFC 297. With that said, check out our UFC odds series for our Gordon-Flick prediction and pick.

Malcolm Gordon (14-7) hasn’t had a great run during his time with the UFC. He is now sitting at 2-4 in the world’s largest promotion, most recently getting knocked out by Jake Hadley in just 1:01 in the first round. Gordon will be looking to turn the tides and finally get back into the winning column when he takes on the dangerous submission grappler Jimmy Flick.

Jimmy Flick (16-7) had a ton of hype coming into his UFC debut against Cody Durden submitting him via flying triangle in the first round which put the flyweight division on notice. He abruptly retired only to unretire two years later but couldn’t rekindle that spark he had in the beginning of his UFC career dropping each of his last two fights in brutal fashion. Flick is looking to right the ship and keep his UFC career alive when he steps into hostile territory to take on Malcolm Gordon.

Here are the UFC Odds, courtesy of DraftKings. 

UFC 297 Odds: Malcolm Gordon-Jimmy Flick Odds

Malcolm Gordon: -205

Jimmy Flick: +170

Over 1.5 rounds: -105

Under 1.5 rounds: -125

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Why Malcolm Gordon Will Win

Malcolm Gordon hasn’t had the best run in his six-fight UFC career. He is now sitting at 2-4  and is in dire need of a win to keep his UFC hopes alive. Gordon luckily gets to take on another fighter that has his back against the wall in Jimmy Flick who has been finished in each of his last two fights much like Gordon has.

However, Gordon has shown some good things at times in his UFC career when he defeated Francisco Figueiredo and Denys Bondar. In that fight with Figueiredo, he was able to scramble back to his feet when he was taken down and outstrike him on the feet en route to a unanimous decision victory. This is the same gameplan that Gordon should have in this fight against Flick as he has a clear striking advantage on the feet. If Gordon can keep this fight where he is most comfortable, he has a good chance of getting back on track.

Why Jimmy Flick Will Win

Jimmy Flick had a lot of hype at the start of his UFC career back in 2020 when he submitted Cody Durden with a flying triangle which is one of the rarest submissions you will ever see in an MMA fight. His abrupt retirement really put a damper on his UFC career and it seems like he isn’t able to recapture that form that got him to the big show in the first place as he’s now dropped two in a row in brutal fashion.

Flick now gets to take on Malcolm Gordon who’s a considerable step down in competition from his recent fights as he hopes to get back into the win column. We’ve seen Gordon get beat in all facets of the game on numerous occasions showing that there is glaring holes in his striking and grappling defense. Being that Flick has 14 submission victories in his 16 wins we all know that his best path to victory is to get the fight to the mat and dominate from there. Luckily for Flick, Gordon has a 9% takedown defense which is by far one of the worst in the entire flyweight division. If Flick is able to land his takedowns and maintain top control he could potentially get submission and get back on track.

Final Malcolm Gordon-Jimmy Flick Prediction & Pick

This is a fun scrap to kick off this UFC 297 fight card. These two flyweights are fighting for their careers this weekend which should be for an exciting fight. It’s very hard to trust either one of these two coming off devastating losses in each of their last two fights. With that said, while Gordon has some of the worst takedown defense in the entire flyweight division, he is still a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt making it tough for someone like Flick to get the submission and he can scramble to his feet where he has a sizable advantage. Ultimately, things will get dicey early on in the scrambles for Gordon, and given the way that let the little brother of former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo look like a competent grappler this spells bad news against Jimmy Flick as he comes in there land the takedown, and notches his 15th submission victory.

Final Malcolm Gordon-Jimmy Flick Prediction & Pick: Jimmy Flick (+170), Under 1.5 Rounds (-105)