by Debra Rich Gettleman

…you’re a big time Israeli MMA fighter standing up to antisemitism.

If you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ve heard of Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist and Holocaust denier who hosts the online show “America First.” Fuentes, 24, boasts a cult following of Gen Z white nationalists who aren’t shy about making their racist views known publicly.

When Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Natan Levy saw a Twitter feed last week that featured a photo of a shirtless Fuentes, he mocked the Neo Nazi by posting “”He’s built like a chopstick. Definitely not a threat.”

This fired up one of Fuentes followers, a guy calling himself “Ben.” Ben posted back to Levy, “I’ll drive to Vegas any day of the week to spar you on behalf of Nicholas J. Fuentes and America First.” And then, just for hubris, he added, “With no formal MMA training, [it] should be easy, right?”

Levy, not the kind of guy to back down, told him “Sure, I’ll gladly KO [knock out] your punk ass. Come see me bro…I’ll Venmo you the gas money.”

Ben, a formal martial arts trained young man, didn’t appreciate Levy’s critical views of his much admired America First leader, and took Levy up on the match. According to Ben, America First is “a political movement based on furthering Christian values in the US.”

Prior to stepping into the octagon cage, Levy asked Ben why he was dissing Jews on Twitter. Ben replied that he was defending Fuentes, “Because I think what he says is right.” He also clarified that Fuentes is not a Holocaust denier. He is, rather, a “revisionist.” A distinction that doesn’t quite fit in this case since Fuentes is not a historian with an alternate view on Holocaust facts, but is instead an outright denier.

When Levy asked Ben how many Jews died in the Holocaust, Ben replied, “I wouldn’t know that off the top of my head… they say six million.” Levy then spoke directly to the camera acknowledging that Ben was probably just an ill-informed kid. He added, “I’m not gonna hurt him too bad. But a lesson has to be taught here about trolling. Education is painful sometimes.”

After two swift take downs and a bunch of hard-felt blows, Levy pinned Ben down and Ben acknowledged defeat.

“I’m sorry,” Ben admitted. “Six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.”

“Murdered,” Levy corrected.

“Murdered in the Holocaust” affirmed Ben. “I need to be more well-researched.”

Levy’s final words to the contrite contender, “This time it wasn’t that painful. The next one will be more painful.”