LI's Eddie Gordon and 'The Ultimate Fighter'?

Here's a bit of interesting timing for you to ingest.

Last week, I sat down with Eddie Gordon, the Ring of Combat light heavyweight champion out of Freeport, for a story leading up to his next fight on Sept. 14 (story in Sunday's Newsday, by the way).

Among the many topics discussed was his career path, which naturally included talk of eventually making it to the UFC.

"Everybody wants to play in the Super Bowl," said the former linebacker for Freeport and defensive lineman for Fordham University, in reference to the UFC.

Of course, that led to the question of considering going the route of "The Ultimate Fighter," because as everyone knows by now, you don't necessarily have to win the show to fight in the octagon for a paycheck.

Gordon (5-0) was keen on the idea and suggested he even attempt to slim down to 185 if middleweight was the only option. (Gordon wrestled at 215 in high school and played college football at around 275.)

Fast forward six days and now it seems Gordon can choose which weight to attempt. The UFC this past Wednesday announced the 17th season of "TUF" will focus on middleweights and light heavyweights. Open tryouts are Sept. 17 at the Palace Station in Las Vegas, three days after Gordon fights at the Tropicana in Atlantic City.

A short turnaround, sure, but this installment of the show wouldn't start taping for a few weeks. And Long Island has a good history on "TUF." East Meadow's Matt Serra won Season 4; Lindenhurst's Dennis Bermudez reached the finals on Season 14; Wantagh's Al Iaquinta reached the finals on Season 15.

“Ultimate Fighter is perfect for Eddie," said his trainer Ray Longo. "It would give him a good gauge for him. He deserves right now to be on that show and test where he’s at."