Amid the knockouts and judges' scorecards that made GFN 1: Israel vs. the World a landmark night for the Gordon brothers' new promotion, one bout on the Menora Mivtachim Arena card carried a different kind of weight entirely.
Major Dor Gabay of the Golani reconnaissance unit stepped through the ropes for an exhibition bout against Russian fighter Aleksei Shardanov, dedicated to IDF soldiers wounded in the war. Gabay was discharged from hospital only three and a half weeks before the event, ONE reports.
He was wounded on May 8, 2025, in Rafah, when an explosive device detonated during operations; a fellow soldier was killed in the same incident. Gabay, who has served 11 years in the IDF, has been undergoing rehabilitation at Sheba Medical Center since.
The bout was arranged with the help of Shagai Dobev, a rehabilitation coordinator who has worked with wounded soldiers since October 7, according to ONE. Dobev told the outlet the programme gave wounded troops a sense of purpose, a training camp and a reason to be up and working at seven in the morning rather than drifting through the day.
For Gabay, getting into the ring at all was the point. "I want all the wounded to see this and understand it's possible," he told ONE after the bout.
He said he carried the fight for a fallen friend, a soldier he named only as Yam, and described the atmosphere at the arena as electric. Far from satisfied with an exhibition outing, he said he is already looking past it: "Next time I want three rounds, a full fight without concessions."
The bout was tucked into a card built around the Gordon brothers themselves, with Ahavat Hashem Gordon beating former ONE Championship bantamweight champion John Lineker in the main event and Kibedy Gordon and Ruach Hashem Gordon also winning on the night. But for the wounded soldiers the event was dedicated to, Gabay's few minutes in the ring were the story that mattered most.
