The Kia Center, Orlando’s premier indoor arena and home to the NBA’s Orlando Magic, was host to a very different type of event over the weekend: a boxing match sponsored by an offshore crypto casino and whose participants included an avowed white supremacist, while Nazi salutes and a Nazi flag were visible in the stands. Tickets were sold through Ticketmaster, as required for events at the Kia Center.
The event, sponsored by online crypto casino Duel, was just the latest example of the normalization of extremism and hate in American life. More surprising, however, was that this type of event was allowed to take place in a taxpayer-funded venue. Both The Kia Center (and by extension the City of Orlando) and Ticketmaster likely profited from an event centered on hate.
Duel and the Fighters
The fight was sponsored by the online crypto casino Duel, using their new fight-promoting subsidiary Duel: Arena. Duel is owned by Finnish poker player Ossi Ketola, who goes by the name “Monarch.” Ketola has a lengthy history of racism, including dressing up as a Nazi and using the official account of one of his betting websites to tell a black man, “shut up n*gger.” His biography on Instagram reads “Looking for an art school to adopt me,” a possible reference to Adolf Hitler, who was infamously rejected from art school as a young man. Ketola also participated in the event at the Kia Center as a fighter.
Ketola allegedly offered to pay the $1 million bond that has been set for racist streamer Chud the Builder, aka Dalton Eatherly, who is currently awaiting trial for attempted murder after shooting a Tennessee Black disabled veteran while streaming the attack. Eatherly was released on bond earlier this month and appeared via video call at Saturday’s fight.
An image from the fight featuring Paul Miller in the background, with a man wearing a “Duel.com” hat in the foreground. (Source: X)
One fighter, Paul Miller, who goes by the online moniker “GypsyCrusader,” is an outspoken neo-Nazi. Miller was a member of the Boogaloo movement and would frequently stream in front of a Nazi flag while spouting slurs. He was later arrested for felony weapons charges. According to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, Miller gained over 40,000 followers on Telegram prior to his arrest, and his followers attempted to crowdfund his legal fees, but were shut down by crowdfunding websites.
Miller was placed on supervised release following his jail term. In late 2025, Miller attempted to have his supervision terminated early, with his lawyer telling the judge, “The racially motivated anything is just an act, and all for entertainment purposes alone via social media, and it’s how he makes his money as well. He’s completely changed his life.” The judge denied Miller’s motion, and his release ended as scheduled in June 2026.
Miller’s boxing opponent, Ben Azoulay, is an online creator and influencer who sells courses about attaining “limitless wealth,” writing, “since you can’t be Ben, the next best thing is to be coached by him.” Azoulay, a U.S. citizen, is Jewish and an outspoken supporter of Israel. Azoulay did a pre-fight interview with a fighting-centered YouTube channel while sitting on a throne that featured a large Star of David.
Duel placing these two individuals against one another was not coincidental. Miller repeatedly posted antisemitic slurs on social media in the lead-up to the fight. In one post, Miller shared a promotional image with the caption “In exactly one month, TJD.” TJD stands for “Total Jew Death,” a common acronym used by white supremacists to incite violence against Jewish people.
A promotional image shared by Duel: Arena ahead of the fight, where Miller’s Nazi SS tattoo is visible. (Source: X)
Duel placed its beliefs on full display on its X account after the fight. In one post from the official Duel: Arena X account, Miller can be heard yelling at Azoulay: “Get the f*ck outta [sic] here you k*ke piece of sh*t.” The account also replied to a post by Azoulay writing, “your people have never lost with dignity, have they.” In response to a video of Miller giving a Nazi-salute after he won the fight, Duel: Arena wrote, “just waving hi to the fans!” In another reply, the account called a black fighter an “actual monkey.”
The Audience
Following the fight between Miller and Azoulay, Miller (accompanied by neo-Nazi and Blood Tribe leader Christopher Pohlhaus and antisemitic podcaster Jake Shields) celebrated by performing multiple Roman salutes in the ring. Likewise, fans seated in the Kia Center were documented holding up Nazi flags and performing Roman Salutes.
The Blood Tribe is a neo-Nazi group formed in 2021. The group held private white supremacist gatherings before eventually going public at anti-LGBTQ+ protests in 2023. Blood Tribe is still actively protesting and is usually recognizable by their red and black attire, swastika flags, and face masks. Blood Tribe also played a key role in spreading the lie that the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio was killing and eating people’s pets.
Screenshots from the “Blutstamm” (“Blood Tribe”) account on X advertising Pohlhaus’ appearance at the fight and invoking Nazi slogans (e.g., “Heil”) to support him. (Source: X)
The Blood Tribe account on X advertised that Pohlhaus would be attending the “Duel Arena” fights, and later shared a photo of Miller, Shields, and Pohlhaus captioned “Heil Hammer.” “Hammer” is Pohlhaus’ nickname. Blood Tribe is also using Pohlhaus’ presence at the event to recruit new members, with one member posting on X, “As Hammer says here if you feel you are a part of something by donating to a streamer or whoever that’s just sad. If you’ve never had your boots on the ground you aren’t a part of something. March or you do not exist,” along with an email to contact for vetting to join the group.
In the days after the fight, Shields took to X to discuss how much he enjoyed meeting and talking with Pohlhaus at the event. The X account for Shields’ podcast, “Fight Back Podcast,” shared an image of Pohlhaus along with the caption, “Would you be interested in us interviewing Hammer of Blood Tribe?” Shields then shared that post, adding, “I was unaware of who Hammer was but found him extremely interesting….”
Screenshot of Jake Shield’s post about Blood Tribe leader, Christopher Pohlhaus. (Source: X)
Several fights erupted following Miller’s exit from the stadium, such as a physical altercation between UFC fighter Sedriques Dumas and a fan of Miller’s dressed as the Joker (mimicking Miller’s online persona). As he left the ring, Miller and Pohlhaus were filmed performing Roman Salutes to the song “Erika,” a soldier song used by the Nazi Wehrmacht during World War 2.
Other antisemitic and far-right influencers were present at the event. Amrou Fudl (“Myron Gaines”), one half of the manosphere influencer duo “Fresh and Fit” who frequently promotes antisemitic tropes online, shared a video of himself wishing Miller luck before the fight. In the video, Gaines tells Miller, “You’re fighting for the goyim!” Also in attendance was Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters, who is a very popular online figure who gained popularity for “looksmaxxing.” Clavicular refereed one of the satirical boxing matches at the event. This is the second high-profile convergence of misogynistic manosphere influencers and neo-Nazism this year, as Fudl and Peters were caught alongside other influencers at a Miami Beach nightclub singing “Heil Hitler” by Ye.
Normalization of Hate
This event has highlighted just how normalized extremism has become in the everyday lives of ordinary people. The whole event was livestreamed and remains uploaded to YouTube, where you can see Nazi imagery on full display. The most racist moments have been clipped and shared thousands of times on X.
Global Project Against Hate and Extremism reached out to the City of Orlando about the event and asked multiple questions about whether they knew about the participants and content of the event ahead of time. They responded to our request with the following comment:
“The City is required to operate its venues in accordance with federal, state and local laws and regulations, which do not allow us to make booking decisions based on the content or viewpoint of an event. As long as an event complies with applicable law, the City does not have a legal basis to deny the rental.
We do not condone or approve the messaging during Saturday’s event and the flag was removed once we saw it on display.”
While the City of Orlando may operate under constraints regarding its public entities, Ticketmaster does not share that excuse. Ticketmaster is a private company and can make independent decisions about who it does business with and how. It can decline to process ticket sales for an event on its own platform, the same way it reserves the right to refuse service in its own terms of use.
