After experiencing a series of frustratingly close decision losses in his recent fights, Jared Gordon made sure the judges were not needed this time. He delivered a brutal first-round knockout victory at UFC Vegas 106.
Following some initial grappling exchanges against Thiago Moises, the seasoned fighter from New York landed a perfectly timed right hand. The powerful punch sent the Brazilian crashing to the canvas. In the immediate aftermath, Gordon followed up with a couple of heavy blows from above that completely rendered Moises unconscious, prompting the referee to quickly step in and stop the contest.
The official time of the stoppage was just 3 minutes and 37 seconds into the opening round.
Reflecting on his performance after the win, Gordon stated, “I was a little hesitant initially because I expected him to shoot for a takedown right away. I knew my boxing was better. I caught him as he was coming in and secured the knockout.”
Despite being paired with a world-class grappler, Gordon showed confidence engaging on the ground early in the fight. However, during these exchanges, Moises landed a strike that caused a cut directly in the center of Gordon`s forehead.
Fortunately, the wound did not bleed excessively, and Gordon continued his ground offense until Moises successfully worked his way back to his feet. This move proved costly almost instantly, as Gordon unleashed the fight-ending right hand that violently snapped Moises’ head and sent him back down to the mat.
There was no recovery for Moises; Gordon landed a few more devastating punches that left him unconscious. The referee intervened to prevent any further damage.
Gordon feels that he should have been on a much longer winning streak heading into this bout, having previously lost contentious decisions to opponents like Paddy Pimblett and Nasrat Haqparast. This time, no scorecards were necessary. Gordon added a significant knockout to his career highlights by definitively finishing Moises during Saturday night`s event at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
