Kivdei Gordon needed less than 45 seconds to finish his night's work. Fighting at the Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv on Monday, the eldest of Israel's Gordon fighting brothers stopped Mexico's José Alberto "Taco" Quiñones by knockout, becoming the first of the family to step into the cage on their own promotional card, ONE reported.
Gordon, 26, dictated the pace from the opening bell, hammering Quiñones's legs with kicks that had the 35-year-old Mexican badly off balance within seconds. The finish arrived before the 45-second mark: a thudding high kick to the head — the kind of strike that has earned Gordon the nickname "Slingshot" on the professional circuit — put Quiñones down and unable to continue, according to ONE's account of the bout.
The win came on GFN 1: Israel vs. The World, the debut event of Gordon Fight Nights, a promotion built around the Gordon family itself. The card, held in Tel Aviv, was topped by a Muay Thai main event pitting Kivdei's brother Ahavat Hashem Gordon against the well-travelled Brazilian striker John Lineker, according to MMAmania's preview of the show.
Gordon arrived at the bout on an 8-2 professional record and a hot streak: his previous outing also ended in almost identical fashion, a 45-second knockout of Peru's Alexis Ramos at FFC 102 in March, a result that had already made him one of the more talked-about young Israeli fighters on the regional scene.
The Gordons are among the more distinctive stories in Israeli combat sports. The children of Dr. Azriel Gordon, an American-born chiropractor, and his Hong Kong-born wife, the siblings were given Hebrew names built around phrases of faith — among them Otzmat Hashem, Kivdei, Simchat Hashem, Ruach Hashem and Ahavat Hashem — and several have gone on to build fight careers of their own, drawing large and vocal Israeli crowds wherever they compete.
Kivdei began training in Muay Thai at 11 and won European kickboxing gold as a teenager before turning to MMA, honing his game in gyms in Boston and São Paulo. Monday's finish, delivered in front of a home crowd for the first time on a card the family itself promoted, extends his run of fast finishes and keeps alive his stated ambition of eventually testing himself in the UFC.
