Three days before Gordon Fight Nights stages its debut card at Tel Aviv's Menora Mivtachim Arena, several of the visiting international fighters spent a day away from the gym entirely, touring the ancient hilltop site of Shiloh and the streets of Jerusalem, ONE reported, as part of a pre-fight itinerary designed to show them the country their hosts call home.
The occasion is GFN 1: Israel vs. The World, set for July 27 and billed by its organisers as the biggest Muay Thai, kickboxing and MMA event ever staged in Israel. Its centrepiece is a family affair: brothers Ahavat HaShem, Ruach HaShem and Kibedy Gordon, Israel's best-known striking family, fighting under ring names that translate roughly as "Love of God" and "Spirit of God", will all appear on the same card for the first time.
The opposition is serious. Ahavat HaShem Gordon meets Brazil's John Lineker, a former ONE Championship bantamweight world champion who also fought in the UFC's flyweight and bantamweight divisions. Ruach HaShem Gordon fights Maximus Bejenuta, and Kibedy Gordon, now based in São Paulo where he trains out of the well-regarded Chute Boxe gym, takes on Jose Alberto Quiñonez.
Elsewhere on the card, Natan Levy is matched against Lando Vannata, the American who spent years in the UFC's lightweight division and built a reputation for spectacular, highlight-reel finishes. According to ONE's report, Vannata was among the fighters who joined the pre-event tour of the country.
Part of the itinerary was guided by Yisrael Ganz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council and chairman of the Yesha Council, the umbrella body representing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Ganz took the group to Shiloh, an archaeological site and settlement in the Samaria region that Jewish tradition identifies as home to the Tabernacle before Jerusalem became Israel's spiritual centre.
"This is the most appropriate place to take the fighters," Ganz said, according to the report, describing Shiloh as a place where "we have roots, values and Israeli pride." He also recalled accompanying Ahavat HaShem Gordon on a trip to the United States, saying he had expected the fighter to pass unrecognised there — "but we couldn't take a step without them stopping him to take photos."
Vannata, for his part, described the visit in personal terms, saying he was "very excited" to be in "the holy land" and that he thought "everyone who prays should come here." He added that he was looking forward to fighting in Israel itself.
The rest of the GFN 1 card fills out with further Israel-versus-world match-ups, including Ilay Barzilay against Brazil's Lucas Almeida, part of a deep bill organisers are presenting as a statement event for combat sports in the country.
For a promotion built almost entirely around the Gordon brothers' rapid rise, three siblings from a religiously observant family who have become fixtures of Israeli combat-sports coverage, pairing the pre-fight spectacle with a tour of the country's historic sites fits the identity the family has cultivated in the build-up. Ganz's comment that "wherever they come, you can't miss that they're Israeli" captures how closely GFN's promotion is leaning into that theme ahead of Monday's fights.
