When the final bell sounded, the kickboxer appeared to twice give a Nazi salute from the ring. Then, he launched into an expletive-laden diatribe against his Jewish opponent. Meanwhile, a man in the crowd triumphantly waved a swastika flag.
The scene unfolded Saturday night inside the Kia Center in downtown Orlando — an arena owned and operated by the city and home to the NBA’s Orlando Magic. The city’s downtown development website had promoted the combat sports event: “You don’t want to miss this.”
Video of the salutes and the flag spread on social media over the weekend, drawing condemnation from faith leaders and elected officials.
The kickboxer, Paul Miller, built an online following as “GypsyCrusader,” streaming racist and antisemitic abuse at strangers. He served time in federal prison on gun charges and, according to prosecutors, has advocated for a “race-based civil war.” The promoter of Saturday’s event, Duel Arena, booked him to fight against Ben Azoulay, a Jewish influencer who had said he was fighting for Israel and the Jewish people.
Orlando Venues, the city department that runs the arena, said that it does not condone the messaging and that the flag was removed once staff saw it. The department has not said how a swastika flag cleared arena security, or whether anyone had vetted Miller’s record beforehand. The Florida Athletic Commission, which issues fight permits, did not respond to questions. Duel Arena did not respond to a request for comment.
Neither Azoulay nor Miller responded to requests for comment.
But Azoulay posted on X after the fight, saying antisemitism had “become more clear to me now.” He pledged to “take down every Anti Semite.” In another post the following day, he criticized Miller’s fighting skills and lack of sportsmanship, adding: “He got kicked in the nuts too so no Nazi babies for him.”
GYPSY CRUSADER BEATS KING AZOULAY pic.twitter.com/a1qg3yfpGh
— Duel Arena (@duelarenax) August 30, 2026
Miller has long espoused antisemitic hatred. Five years ago, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force raided his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He subsequently pleaded guilty to three felony counts for possession of an unregistered firearm and ammunition and possession of a weapon as a felon. He was released from federal prison in July 2023, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
Miller is part of a growing number of people exploiting extremist beliefs and turning them into attention-grabbing online content for monetization, said Mark Pitcavage, a researcher at the Center on Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League.
Miller’s opponent, Azoulay, sells online courses about attaining “limitless wealth” and has posted videos supporting the Tate brothers, who built a massive social media empire championing hyper-masculinity and now face sex-trafficking and rape charges.
“Providing spectacle — even in terms of extreme ideology and extreme statements — is something that some people have discovered can be rewarding,” Pitcavage said. That, in turn, is mainstreaming hate. The ADL said it has been monitoring Miller for years, since he rose to notoriety as a member of the extremist anti-government “boogaloo movement” and would frequently stream in front of a Nazi flag. The organization has labeled him a “volatile white supremacist-accelerationist.”
At Saturday’s event, an SS lightning bolt tattoo was visible on his chest. And one company made a trading card celebrating Miller’s weekend victory, decorated with the same neo-Nazi symbol and an antisemitic slur.
Rabbi Dovid Dubov of Chabad of Greater Orlando met with Azoulay the afternoon before the fight. They prayed together and blew the shofar, he said. They agreed the upcoming fight represented something larger than two men in a ring.
“When someone openly expressed hatred toward the Jewish people, confronting that carries a deeper meaning,” Dubov said. “The response to darkness is not more darkness, but it’s strengthening our faith, our identity and our resolve.”
In the days since the fight, Dubov said he has heard from Jewish residents across central Florida concerned about what occurred at the arena and the antisemitic commentary continuing to ripple across social media.
Footage from the event shared on Reddit shows a man in the audience unfurling the swastika flag and then appearing to be confronted by a staff member trying to yank it from his hands. Another video shows members of the crowd booing and flipping the finger at the flag-bearer.
“We understand that many people in the Orlando community feel hurt, angry and concerned about the recent Duel Arena event. To be clear: those views belong solely to the individuals who expressed them,” a spokesperson for Orlando Venues said in a statement.
“We do not condone or approve the messaging during Saturday’s event and the flag was removed once we saw it on display,” the statement continued. The department is reviewing its event polices to ensure that its “facilities are safe and inclusive” and that “the Constitution is respected.”
“As operators of public venues, the City is bound by the First Amendment,” the statement said.
The Holocaust Center of Florida, established 45 years ago by a Holocaust survivor, said in a statement following the fight: “When Neo-Nazis and open white supremacists are granted a public platform in competitive sports, these are the predictable consequences. We call on those who organized the event to take accountability for facilitating this shameful display.”
Last year marked the third highest year on record for antisemitic incidents since the Anti-Defamation League began tracking them in 1979.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat who represents the Orlando area in the Florida Capitol ― decried what occurred at the arena. “It’s disgusting, and another reminder of how prevalent extremism is in our society and the responsibility we all have to combat antisemitism, racism, white supremacy, and more,” she wrote on Instagram. “We cannot normalize this. Ever.”
Wade Plemons, who was in arena working as a commentator for the event, said in a 20-minute recap video posted to YouTube that the event was “the worst I’ve ever been a part of.” He was embarrassed for being involved, he said, although he appeared more focused on the disorganization and boredom of the fight than complaints of antisemitism.
“Israel, Palestine, Nazi, Jew. I couldn’t give a f— about any of it,” Plemons said.
He called Miller’s celebration “disgusting” and with a shrug added, “I guess Nazis will be Nazis.”
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