(JTA) — As only the third Israeli to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, Natan Levy is not afraid to showcase his Jewish identity in and out of the ring.
He gave himself the chance to do just that as he invited a follower of white supremacist provocateur Nick Fuentes to a fight that was filmed and posted to YouTube on Thursday.
Levy and the man, identified only as Ben, had dueled on Twitter before doing so in person.
“I’ll drive to Vegas any day of the week to spar you on behalf of Nicholas J. Fuentes and America First,” Ben wrote to Levy, referencing Fuentes’ online show where he regularly espouses antisemitic rhetoric and Holocaust denial.
Levy accepted Ben’s challenge, even offering to pay for his gas. (Last year, Levy had issued a similar warning to rapper Kanye West after he praised Hitler, telling him, “if you’ve got a problem with me or my people, come see me, bro.”)
In the video, Levy is shown greeting Ben at a mixed martial arts dojo in Las Vegas. Levy wears a shirt with his “Jew-Jitsu” nickname.
Ben explains to Levy that Fuentes is a leader of the “America First” movement, which he describes as “a political movement based on furthering Christian values in the United States.” He says he was just “messing around” online and claims he is “not a hateful person.”
When Levy points out that Fuentes is a Holocaust denier, Ben says that Fuentes is merely a “revisionist.” And when Levy asks Ben how many Jews were killed in the Nazi genocide, Ben said, “I wouldn’t know that off the top of my head… they say six million.”
“He’s just a kid, probably a dumb kid,” Levy said to the camera before they step into the ring. “I’m not gonna hurt him too bad, but a lesson has to be taught here about trolling. Education is painful sometimes.”
They fight for two rounds, with Levy pinning Ben both times. At the end of the second bout, Ben can be heard saying “I’m sorry.”
After the fighting is over, Levy and Ben stood outside the ring, arms around each other, as Ben looks into the camera and says, “Six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.” Levy corrects his verb choice, interjecting with “murdered,” before adding “F–k Nick Fuentes!”
Ben admitted he “needs to be more well-researched,” while Levy offered a warning: “This one wasn’t that painful. The next one will be twice as painful.”
The video then ends by showing Shimon Smotritsky, an Israeli mixed martial arts fighter, heading into the ring with another man, identified as Cee-Jay, who said he’s “not defending Nick Fuentes, I’m defending my friend’s honor.” Their fight doesn’t last long, but it ends in bloody fashion.
“Don’t talk sh–t about Jews, baby,” Smotritsky says with a wink.
