Eddie “Truck” Gordon Discusses his New Book, Fighting Life and The Ultimate Fighter

Eddie kindly agreed to this interview where he relays his thoughts on his life, his experience on “TUF” and the issues with weight-cutting.

Eddie “Truck” Gordon is a middleweight mixed martial artist who has competed for the UFC. He most recently participated in the reality TV show “The Ultimate Fighter (TUF)” for the “TUF: Redemption” series under coach Cody Garbrandt. Additionally he is also a former winner of the series succeeding in “TUF 19” in the middleweight division.

Since the series, Eddie has been active on social media promoting motivational speaking and has written a book detailing his inspiring story throughout his life. This story also been featured as an Emmy award winning documentary.

In terms of fighting, Eddie Gordon is still focused on returning to the cage and has plans to fight in February or March.

If you are interested in Eddie “Truck” Gordon, please follow him on social media platforms @TruckMMA_UFC. If you want to read his new book which is a fascinating insight into the MMA world, the link is: https://www.amazon.com/Forever-TRUCKIN-Mastering-Will-Win/dp/0999608614/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510501484&sr=8-1&keywords=forever+truckin

Furthermore, if you want to see the video interview it can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQa8pP4SXzw&t=3s

KJ: Hi Eddie, firstly thank you for the opportunity to interview you, what have you been up to since Ultimate Fighter and what are your future plans?

EG: Yeah, everything has been going good for me since Ultimate Fighter. I have a couple of different ventures going on.

I am in the process of finalising my first book, which is something I’m super excited about. I never thought I’d be fighting, I never thought I’d be writing a book, so both things have been great. I’m using the platform the UFC gave me and hopefully I can touch some lives and make a huge difference.

KJ: Could you give some more information on the book?

EG: Everyone wants to tell me I am an overnight success. It wasn’t overnight. It has been 34 years in the making and my story won an Emmy award for the documentary they did on me.

I want to motivate that young kid that came from nothing, who no one ever believed in but believed in himself. The book will be available hopefully this week, if you follow my social media @TruckMMA_UFC I will be promoting it.

Importantly it’s going to be affordable. I don’t want money ever to be an issue for someone to step into their greatness. So there is going to be a special pre-order and it is going to be 99 cents for the audiobook, the eBook and it’s going to be affordable for everyone.

KJ: Updates on your fight career?

EG: I’ve been training and getting ready to get back into the Octagon. Not sure where yet, being a free agent is good but I am in a good place, because I’m not fighting because I need the money. I fight now because I love the sport and it’s a good opportunity for my family.

I’m definitely fighting again, there is a lot left in this tank and I see myself fighting between February or March. I got some things in the works and I am looking to being back in that ring.
KJ: At middleweight who would you like to face?

EG: I train with the top guys like Chris Weidman. But in the ring its all about self belief and confidence. After seeing GSP win, you got to believe in yourself.

I’ll fight anyone. I don’t care what the analysts say. I got into this sport on a whim. I remember watching Anderson Silva fighting Forrest Griffin. I remember people saying this is cool. I said this is cool but I want to be part of that. People said you’re too drunk, too fat and too old to pick this up. I said I believed in myself. I gave it a shot and it took off for me. The bigger the challenge, the more people don’t believe, those are the challenges I want.

KJ: You cut to welterweight for the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter and you are a big middleweight anyway. What are your views on weight cutting?

EG: Cutting weight is under talked about and its miserable. There’s a reason why on these count down shows, they never really highlight it. They don’t talk about it because it is a black eye on the sport. Everyone is doing it and it’s miserable. I used to cut weight the wrong way and it has literally robbed years of my life. It made me question whether I really want to do this.

Everybody loves fighting. We love to go in there and train and compete. But then you are sitting there on the brink of death to make weight, you got to rehydrate and go there and perform against some of the toughest guys in the world 24 hours later. It’s tough and most guys just don’t understand that. They can’t wrap their head around it. They think what you see is all in that cage. But there are other things going on in life.

I think they are trying to get the drastic weight cutting out but the worst thing for a fighter is themself. We always look for advantages.

KJ: Where do you see yourself fighting in the future?

EG: I’m going to stay at 185, if they offer me something I can’t refuse at 170 I’ll take it. But if I’m going to do that, then I’m going to do it the right way. I’m not going to sit there the night before and cut 40lbs. No it’s got to be a methodical process and need at least 10 weeks.

I’m a big guy and I started out at 300lbs and made it to welterweight. It took a lot of discipline and sacrifices. Not going out with my kids, not going out with my friends. No one knows how long it’s going to take unless you do it the right way.

It’s more of a lifestyle and it’s going to be tough. It’s why you see so many guys changing weight classes because they have to. Nobody trains six day weeks as hard as us fighters. They’re not tired after a 15 minute fight, they’re tired because they’re body is drained. That’s the problem.

At the stage in my life now, with the book coming out and with the different things I’m doing, I’m not going to put my health and risk my livelihood for a couple bucks. I didn’t go to college for a good degree to make bad decisions.

KJ: Talking about The Ultimate Fighter, you worked with TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt. What was it like being a part of that?

EG: The thing about TV its crazy, they see what they want you to see and they create a storyline and they portray it. Working with Cody was amazing. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

I think they are trying to create the heel out of him and he’s just a young emotional guy who wears his emotions on his sleeve and you know where he lies. Same goes for TJ. I think they had to choose a good guy and they chose TJ. Nothing wrong with that, TJ is a down to earth dude. I just think he was misguided and all the anger was targeted to the wrong person.

He was in a tough situation. You can’t doubt him and you can understand he wants to get better. But I feel like it could have been handled differently because there are guys who left Team Alpha Male who are still on good terms. You feel bad for TJ, almost like a lone wolf. It’s a situation that didn’t have to play out that way. It’s Crazy.

KJ: What is next after a fighter’s career is over?

EG: Sometimes as fighters we don’t know what the next step is. We’re involved with the right here and right now. And when it’s over we don’t know where to go. We don’t have an identity because we are so wrapped up and we want to be great.

So while we’re in the moment, there should be someone in the background, saying lets set this up, so you have a future after fighting. Because it’s such a short window we have in the bigger picture. It’s a little blip on the radar of life.

KJ: Thank you Eddie for this opportunity, it was brilliant to talk to you. Just a little shout out is there anything you want to say?

EG: I want to thank you for reaching out. It was certainly a pleasure. I love doing these things because who knows you might blow up? Might be bigger than Ariel Helwani.

My legacy is not going to be about how many fights I won, cars I owned or houses I bought. It’s going to be about how many lives I’ve touched. That is why I’m talking to you and we are going to touch tonnes of lives. So I’m super excited.

KJ: Thank you for being an inspirational role model especially in MMA where it is not common and importantly people should read this book! Follow Eddie and subscribe.

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