Natan Levy (; born September 30, 1991) is a French-Israeli professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who competed in the

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

division in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

(UFC).

Early life

Levy was born on in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France to a traditional

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. He moved to Israel as a toddler and grew up in

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; , / ) is an affluent List of Israeli cities, city in the Israeli coastal plain, central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it had a populatio ...

. Levy began practicing martial arts as a teenager, training three hours a day by 15 years old, and earned his black belt in

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

at the age of 17. One year later, he traveled to

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, Japan to receive his black belt in

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

. Prior to his professional MMA career, Levy worked as a martial arts instructor and ran a Karate dojo in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, Israel. After being awarded his 3rd degree black belt in Uechi-Ryū Karate, he moved to

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, in the United States at the age of 22 in order to train in

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

and pursue a professional career. Over the first few years, he was forced to travel between training in Las Vegas and work in Israel to make money.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

At the age of 24, Levy made his mixed martial arts debut as an amateur in a fight against Isaac Caranza, on 25 June 2016, for the Tuff-N-Uff promotion in Las Vegas. He won via

guillotine choke The guillotine choke, also known as Mae Hadaka Jime (前裸絞, "front naked choke"; compared to a rear naked choke) in judo, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from in front of the opponent, often on the ground but can also be done while stan ...

submission in the first minute of the first round. One month later, he defeated Josh Brady in the first round via

rear naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC), also known as hadaka jime (裸絞) in Judo and "lion killer choke (Mata Leão)" in BJJ, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word ''naked'' in this context suggests that, unlike other stra ...

submission after 50 seconds. He subsequently beat Daniel Hudson via unanimous decision on 3 December, and Geoffrey Mellor via guillotine choke submission on 17 June 2017, bringing his mixed martial arts amateur record to 4–0.

Legacy Fighting Alliance

Levy made his professional debut in the

Legacy Fighting Alliance The Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Houston, Texas. It was created as a result of the Legacy Fighting Championship and Resurrection Fighting Alliance merg ...

in 2018 and ran off five consecutive wins. For his first fight in the American promotion company, he defeated Marcus Sims at LFA 36, on 23 March 2018, via

armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armpit lock is very useful; it will immobilize an opponent and pin them on the ground. An armlock t ...

submission in the first round. His next bout in the LFA was against Cameron Underhill at LFA 45. Levy beat Underhill via guillotine choke submission in only 29 seconds of the first round. He then won via unanimous decision against Henry Barahona at LFA 58 on 25 January 2019, and Nicholas Badis at LFA 69 on 7 June. One year later, in August 2020, he defeated Ben Lugo at LFA 88 via majority decision for his last fight in the LFA. After his win over Lugo, Levy earned a spot on Dana White's Contender Series 35 where he took on Shaheen Santana in a 160-pound catchweight bout. He beat Santana via

arm triangle choke Arm triangle choke, side choke, or head and arm choke are generic terms describing blood chokeholds in which the opponent is strangled in between their own shoulder and the practitioner's arm. This is as opposed to the regular triangle choke, whic ...

submission in the third round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Following his victory over Santana, Levy signed a contract with the

. Initially fighting in the

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

division, he moved up a weight class and began his UFC journey in the

division. He made his debut for the organization in a fight against Rafa García at UFC Fight Night 198 on 20 November 2021 but lost the bout via unanimous decision. After his loss to García, Levy rebounded with a win over Mike Breeden at UFC Vegas 53 via unanimous decision on 30 April 2022. He then faced Genaro Valdéz on 3 December 2022, at

UFC on ESPN 42 ''UFC on ESPN: Thompson vs. Holland'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 42'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 3, 2022, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, United States. B ...

and defeated him by unanimous decision after three rounds. He was scheduled to face Pete Rodriguez on 29 April 2023 at UFC Vegas 72, and then on 13 May at UFC on ABC 4 but his opponent withdrew twice. Levy was scheduled to face Alex Reyes on September 16, 2023, at UFC Fight Night 227. However, he withdrew from the fight after failing to pass pre-fight medical tests, and he was replaced by Charlie Campbell. Levy faced Mike Davis on March 16, 2024, at UFC Fight Night 239. At the weigh-in, Levy weighed 156.5 pounds, half a pound over the lightweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at catchweight and Levy was fined 20% of his purse which went to his opponent Davis. Levy lost the bout as a result of an arm-triangle submission in the second round. On February 28, 2025, it was reported that Levy was removed from the UFC roster.

Ultimate Self-Defense Championship

Natan Levy won the Ultimate Self-Defense Championship Season 2 on October 13, 2024, securing the Ultimate Self-Defense belt. He competed against six participants, but his toughest challenge came from Craig Hunter, who ultimately claimed second place.

Personal life

In addition to his native French and Hebrew, he is fluent in English. He is good friends with fellow professional mixed martial artists

Sean Strickland Sean Thomas Strickland (born February 27, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Middleweight Champion. ...

and Chris Curtis. In late January 2025, after fellow UFC fighter Bryce Mitchell praised

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and made antisemitic comments on his

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

, Levy offered to educate Mitchell firsthand about Jewish culture and history.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 8–2 , Mike Davis , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs. Tybura , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:43 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 , Genaro Valdéz , Decision (unanimous) , UFC on ESPN: Thompson vs. Holland , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 , Mike Breeden , Decision (unanimous) , UFC on ESPN: Font vs. Vera , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–1 , Rafa García , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. Tate , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Shaheen Santana , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Dana White's Contender Series 35 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:55 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Ben Lugo , Decision (majority) , LFA 88 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Nicholas Badis , Decision (unanimous) , LFA 69 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Cabazon, California Cabazon (Spanish: ''Cabazón'') is an unincorporated community in Riverside County, California, United States. Cabazon is on the Pacific Crest Trail. In the 21st century, the area has become a tourist stop, due to the Morongo Casino, Resort & S ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Henry Barahona , Decision (unanimous) , LFA 58 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Cameron Underhill , Submission (guillotine choke) , LFA 45 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:29 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Marcus Sims , Submission (armbar) , LFA 36 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:25 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Geoffrey Mellor , Submission (guillotine choke) , Tuff-N-Uff - Pack The Mack , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:41 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Daniel Hudson , Decision (unanimous) , Heartland FC: Genesis , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:00 ,

Marion, Illinois The city of Marion is the county seat of Williamson County, Illinois, United States. The population in Marion, IL was 16,855 according to the 2020 census. It is part of a dispersed urban area that developed out of early 20th-century coal fields ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Josh Brady , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Real MMA 11 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:50 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Isaac Caranza , Submission (guillotine choke) , Tuff-N-Uff - Pack The Mack , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:56 ,

, United States ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Natan Living people 1991 births Israeli Jews Israeli male mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wushu Mixed martial artists utilizing Uechi-ryū Mixed martial artists utilizing Kyokushin kaikan Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Jewish mixed martial artists Jewish Israeli sportspeople Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters French male mixed martial artists Israeli wushu practitioners Israeli male karateka Israeli practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Israeli people of French-Jewish descent French emigrants to Israel 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Israeli sportsmen