This is Part 3 of BoxingInsider’s coverage of Duel Arena 1. Part 1 addressed the card the Florida Athletic Commission approved. Part 2 examined the unsanctioned costume segment against Florida law. This installment is the reported record.

Condemnation of Saturday’s Duel Arena event at the Kia Center in Orlando widened this week. A United States senator, a state representative, and the Holocaust Center of Florida denounced the Nazi flag and Nazi-style salutes displayed in the crowd. WKMG News 6 reported that the co-feature winner used an antisemitic slur about his opponent over the arena microphone, and FOX 35 reported that the losing fighter, who is Jewish, was deeply disturbed by the night. The City of Orlando said it lacked the legal authority to refuse the booking. And when News 6 called the number listed for the promotion, a man who said he represented Island Fights told the station he had organized many of the matches but not the ones involving influencers such as Miller.

“This is utterly disturbing. Antisemitism has NO PLACE in Florida,” Sen. Rick Scott posted on X Monday in response to footage of the display.

The Holocaust Center of Florida called the flag and salutes inside the arena “deeply disturbing and unacceptable” in a statement posted to social media, and called on the event’s organizers to take accountability for facilitating the display, as reported by Bungalower. State Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat and candidate for mayor, wrote on social media that she was disgusted, credited a woman security guard with moving immediately to pull the flag down, and added: “We cannot normalize this. Ever.”

The footage circulated widely after the August 29 card, the first promoted by Duel Arena, the combat sports venture of crypto casino Duel.com. Video shows a man raising a swastika flag in the stands:

Separate footage shows Nazi-style salutes from the crowd:

The co-feature was a heavyweight kickboxing bout between Paul Miller and Ben Azoulay. Miller built his following as Gypsy Crusader, a livestreamer whose broadcasts featured racist and antisemitic abuse; the Anti-Defamation League has identified him as a white supremacist with a documented history of racist and antisemitic activity. In 2021 he was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon and possessing an unregistered short-barreled rifle. Azoulay, who is Jewish, entered the ring on a throne draped in an Israeli flag after saying he was fighting for Israel and the Jewish people. Miller weighed in at 218 pounds to Azoulay’s 185.2 and won a split decision, 28-29, 30-27, 30-27.

Miller was not new to the commission. The Florida Athletic Commission’s own results sheet for a Brand Risk Entertainment card in Miami on March 14 lists him winning a split decision in a boxing bout, under the same executive director and the same five commissioners. Saturday was his second appearance on a Florida permit in six months.

What Miller said after the decision was broadcast to the building. Speaking into the arena microphone, he described Azoulay as “a short little f****** Jew prick,” WKMG News 6 reported, after telling the crowd his opponent was not a tough guy or an alpha male. News 6 also reviewed video showing Miller, after leaving the ring, appearing to give the Nazi salute to the crowd twice. Marni Mandell, chief executive of the Jewish nonprofit Shalom Orlando, told the station it was terrifying that anyone would be so brazen in such a public setting.

Azoulay told FOX 35 he was deeply disturbed by what happened. Miller declined the station’s interview request and said he did not see an issue with it. Patrick Clark Jr., the former WWE performer who boxed on the undercard and recorded the flag from inside the arena, told FOX 35 that Miller saluted after the decision and that “his corner men were Nazi saluting the crowd.” Rabbi Dovid Dubov of Chabad of Greater Orlando, who prayed with Azoulay before the fight, told the station that antisemitism is no longer hiding in the shadows and that people feel increasingly comfortable displaying hatred openly, which should concern every decent person. Jewish Breaking News reported that former MMA fighter Jake Shields worked Miller’s corner in a shirt reading “FCK Israel” and that the decision set off a confrontation between Miller’s entourage and members of the crowd. Photographs from the ring show the shirt on a cornerman at the ropes, the words “Joker Waffen” across the front of Miller’s trunks, and what appear to be SS runes tattooed on his shoulder. Commission staff inspect each fighter’s gloves, wraps, and attire before he enters the ring.

The promotion’s own staff described the bout in ethnic terms. Korra, whose account bio reads “scribe & herald” at Duel and which has identified itself as an official Duel representative in company business, posted after the result: “The world’s first Anti-Jew vs Jew boxing match, and the Anti-Jew came out victorious. Congratulations to Gypsy Crusader.” When the shirt drew attention, the same account posted: “No network in the world, Netflix, DAZN, no one, would have allowed this to be worn.” The post continued: “We may not agree with the message, but we believe in your right to say your piece. Duel Arena lets their gladiators say and do what they want.”

The promotion’s official account followed the same pattern. During fight week, the verified Duel Arena account on X directed a homophobic slur at Dillon Danis after his withdrawal, as MMA Junkie reported. After Clark’s disqualification, the same account posted that Duel Arena “would like to apologize for ever having platformed this classless, disqualified chimp,” tagging Clark, who is Black, and congratulating Ryan Pownall in the same message. The post no longer appears on the account’s live timeline; the archived URL continues to circulate. The posts were among the conduct that prompted MMA reporter Trent Reinsmith to ask publicly whether any outlet that covered the event had called out what happened on it.

Miller has since raised a complaint of his own about the commission. In a video posted to X on Monday, he said the Florida commission changed the ruleset for the bout minutes before his ring walk, after he had trained for a different style, and that the change angered fighters in the locker room. In a second clip from the same account he said the commission also shortened the rounds from what had been agreed. Posts summarizing the video describe the change as a switch from Glory rules to K-1 rules without knees or clinch work, with shortened rounds, roughly 20 minutes before the walk, and attribute it to a licensing issue; BoxingInsider has not confirmed those details. Florida’s kickboxing rules set the permitted techniques and round lengths for any bout under the commission’s jurisdiction, and the commission has not said whether the change reflected those rules being applied to a bout that had been advertised under different ones. It is the first account from a participant of commission staff intervening in the co-feature on the night.

Criticism has also come from inside the broadcast. Wade Plemons, who worked commentary for the promotion, recorded a video from his hotel room after leaving the arena, calling it “the worst event I have ever been a part of in my life,” saying he regretted taking the job and would never work for the promotion again, as Bloody Elbow reported. Plemons disavowed the positions of both co-feature fighters and said he was disgusted by the jokes and segments woven through the show, including the costume segment. The Duel Arena account responded that the event “was meant to include everyone and account for 1st amendment absolutism,” and said Plemons “by self-admittance did no research and disregarded all his pre-supposed morals for the paycheck.”

Video also circulated of Miller leaving the event:

A separate segment late in the broadcast has drawn its own scrutiny. A performer in a costume based on a mascot character from Duel’s streams threw punches at Daniel Cao, who was not in costume and was overwhelmed from the opening seconds. The man in the ring acting as referee was the Kick streamer known as Clavicular; BoxingInsider found no record of him holding a Florida official’s license, and the commission has not said whether one was issued. One of the promotion’s own commentators called on air for the segment to be stopped. Kevin Lee, a former UFC interim title challenger, reacted to the footage on social media: “This is spitting on the grave of guys who have given everything to the sport,” Lee said, as Sportskeeda reported. Duel’s own recap of the event describes the segment as show content and tells readers to “treat it as show content, not a sanctioned bout.” No official result was recorded.

Under Florida’s Chapter 548, a match is defined as a contest or an exhibition, every professional match requires a referee designated by the commission, and section 548.057(3) directs the commission to ensure that all officials are Florida-licensed and that no promoter has influenced their appointment. Part 2 of this series examined the segment against the statute and asked the commission whether it appeared on the approved bout sheet. The commission’s official results sheet for the event, which lists each approved bout with its referee of record and official weights, had not been posted as of Tuesday, within the commission’s normal turnaround.

The card ran eleven scheduled bouts across boxing, mixed martial arts, and kickboxing, all in a boxing ring, all under one Florida Athletic Commission permit. In the main event, Brandon Jenkins, who entered 17-11 in MMA, stopped Mike Perry, who entered 15-8, with a body kick at 2:38 of the first round after Perry appeared to injure his shoulder. Jenkins took the fight on roughly 48 hours’ notice after Danis withdrew. Perry addressed the terms at the pre-fight press conference. “It’s f***** up, man. It makes me think this was always their plan,” Perry said. “I gotta take a massive pay cut to take this new fight. You’d think accepting something last second would give you more, rather than much less.” Uncrowned’s Ariel Helwani reported the cut was 50 percent. The event was announced as a $29.99 pay-per-view and moved to a free stream after Danis withdrew.

An announced exhibition between Ossi Ketola, the Finnish founder of Duel.com who competes in high stakes poker as Monarch, and Patrick Holden was billed on the promotion’s own account at 92 kilograms against 41 kilograms, roughly 202 pounds against 90, with both men listed as making their boxing debuts. Neither man appeared on the weigh-in results published with the rest of the card, and the bout was not contested. During the broadcast, however, commentators identified a fighter making his ring walk as Ketola. The Korra account posted that the fighter was not the owner:

The official Duel Arena account replied: “that wasn’t him?” The $3 million figure and the audience count exist only in that post; the promotion has not published production costs or viewership numbers. The reply from the promotion’s own account stands as the only corroboration of the identification error itself.

A spokesperson for Orlando Venues, the city department that oversees the Kia Center, told Orlando Weekly and the two television stations that the city does not condone the messaging and that the flag was removed once staff saw it on display. Asked whether the city knew of Miller’s participation or could have prevented the event, Kirk Wingerson, the department’s marketing division manager, said the city is required to operate its venues in accordance with federal, state and local law, which does not allow booking decisions based on the content or viewpoint of an event, and that as long as an event complies with applicable law the city has no legal basis to deny the rental.

That leaves the decision with the body that held discretion over the card itself: the Florida Athletic Commission, which approved the matchups and issued the permit. As of Tuesday, BoxingInsider found no public statement on the event from the commission, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the Governor’s office, or the offices of the Senate Commerce Committee’s leadership. FOX 35 reported that neither Duel Arena nor Gamebred Bare Knuckle MMA, which the station described as the event’s promoter, responded to its requests for comment. BoxingInsider has requested the commission’s approved bout sheet and event records.

None of this required an exemption, a waiver, or a friendly interpretation. All of it was legal under Florida’s existing framework.

Start with who held the permit, because it was not the casino. The Florida Athletic Commission’s own event calendar lists the promoter of record for the August 29 Orlando date as Ryan Toole Inc., doing business as Duel Arena. When the card was announced in July, the promotion’s announcement carried by WFTV quoted Dean Toole. “This is more than just another fight card, it’s the beginning of something special,” Toole said. “Launching Duel Arena with a main event featuring ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry and Dillon Danis sets the tone for what this promotion is all about.” Toole is the founder of the Pensacola promotion Island Fights, the chief executive and matchmaker of Gamebred Bare Knuckle MMA, and a longtime licensed matchmaker who matches his own cards.

That makes an exchange reported by News 6 significant. When the station called the number listed on Duel Arena’s Facebook page, a man who said he represented Island Fights answered. He said he had been responsible for organizing many of the fights on the card, but not the ones involving influencers such as Miller. He called what happened in the building distasteful and said he would connect the station with a Duel Arena representative; as of the station’s publication, he had not. Under Florida’s rules, the competitiveness of a kickboxing match is certified by the promotion’s licensed matchmaker. If the promoter of record’s own matchmaking operation did not make the co-feature, the question of who certified it falls to the commission’s records.

Florida’s rules ask nothing more of the arrangement. Rule 61K1-3.002 requires a licensed promoter of record and a $15,000 surety bond. Neither Chapter 548 nor the commission’s rules impose any requirement on the sponsor whose name appears on the event, or ask whether that sponsor’s core business can lawfully operate in the state. A crypto casino that cannot hold a Florida gambling license can still put its name on a Florida fight card, provided a licensed Florida promoter holds the paper.

Florida’s Chapter 548 gives the Florida Athletic Commission exclusive jurisdiction over professional boxing, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts. There is no separate boxing commission and no statutory bar to stacking all three sports on one card; each bout is approved under its own chapter of the commission’s rules. The commission is the sole arbiter of what carries the state’s sanction, and commissions in New York, New Jersey, and Nevada would not approve the same mix of matchups. Florida’s structure permits it.

Two provisions explain how the card came together. Under section 548.006(2), the competitiveness of professional MMA and kickboxing matches is certified by the matchmaker, the promotion’s own licensed official, rather than by commission staff, until a central records repository exists and is approved. The Miller and Azoulay bout ran under exactly that provision: a kickboxing match between a fighter with verifiable striking experience and an opponent with no documented record, certified as competitive by a matchmaker the commission has not identified. And under rule 61K1-3.001, a promoter may propose new matches until noon on the day before the event, and after that deadline may still add bouts up to the conclusion of the weigh-in if records can be verified to the satisfaction of the executive director. That is the pathway that put Jenkins in a main event on two days’ notice.

Florida also does not require brain imaging for professional fighters under 40 as a standard licensing condition. Fighters 40 and older must submit a normal MRI as part of licensure; younger fighters need a pre-match physical, with additional imaging triggered only by cause. As BoxingInsider noted in its preview of the April Senate hearing, the Florida commission sanctions influencer boxing and other events that New York, New Jersey, and Nevada would not approve.

That hearing is where the Orlando card acquires a second layer. Timothy Shipman, executive director of the Florida Athletic Commission and president of the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports, testified before Senator Ted Cruz’s Commerce Committee on the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act in April. “I have seen firsthand how strong health and safety regulations can make a difference,” Shipman told the committee, describing Florida’s ringside physician requirements and pre-fight medical protocols. On the bill itself, he said: “The provisions in this legislation align with and in many cases exceed the standards we have in Florida.”

Shipman’s written testimony called for “national minimum standards for medical examinations, drug testing, insurance coverage, and fighter compensation” and said such standards “would promote uniformity.” The bill before the committee, which passed the House on March 24 by voice vote, would set several: a $200 per round minimum purse, $50,000 in medical coverage per bout, $15,000 in accidental death coverage, drug testing at title bouts and at random elsewhere, supplemental physicals for fighters 40 and older, and mandatory brain health examinations before a fighter who has been knocked out can compete again, as BoxingInsider detailed in its review of the bill’s medical provisions. The bill does not require baseline brain imaging for fighters under 40, the same gap that exists in Florida today.

None of those standards would have reached the two bouts at the center of Saturday’s controversy. The Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996, the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act of 2000, and the Revival Act that would amend them govern professional boxing only. The Miller and Azoulay bout was kickboxing. The Perry and Jenkins main event was MMA. Both were approved under Florida’s kickboxing and MMA rules and would remain outside federal law if the bill passed tomorrow. Of the eleven scheduled bouts, only the boxing matches, Manuwa and Sherman, Clark and Pownall, and Rowe and Ross among them, fall under the federal framework at all.

For those bouts, the bill’s mechanism is the same one that produced Saturday’s permit. The Revival Act creates no federal commission, no national licensing system, and no federal enforcement staff. It sets minimum standards and leaves enforcement with the state commissions, as the 1996 and 2000 laws already do, a structure BoxingInsider examined in its history of federal boxing legislation. In Florida, the enforcing body would be the Florida Athletic Commission.

The bill also assigns new roles to the Association of Boxing Commissions, the voluntary trade organization of state, tribal, and provincial commissions that Shipman heads. Under the House-passed text, every ringside physician at every professional boxing match in the United States would need certification through a program administered by the ABC, UBO registrations would be filed with the ABC alongside the Federal Trade Commission, and section 7(c)(3)(C) directs the ABC to publish an annual report card grading each state commission’s conformance with model codes and best practices, provisions BoxingInsider analyzed in its report on the ABC’s role under the bill. As written, the organization grading the Florida Athletic Commission’s conformance would be led by the Florida Athletic Commission’s executive director.

Shipman told the committee that the UBO structure “represents a substantial shift” and that commissions “will need clear guidance on how they integrate with state licensing and oversight to avoid duplication or conflicts.” The commission he runs is the one that issued Saturday’s permit.

The commission’s members are appointed by the governor under Chapter 548, and the commission sits within the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, whose secretary is also a gubernatorial appointee. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 269 in April 2023 from the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem, a law creating felony penalties for harassment and intimidation based on religious or ethnic heritage. Speaking before the signing, DeSantis said Americans have a constitutional right to say hateful things but no right to threaten, harass, or intimidate someone on the basis of religious affiliation.

Elsewhere on the card, Jimi Manuwa, 46, returned from a seven-year retirement to stop former UFC heavyweight Chase Sherman in the second round of their boxing match after surviving an early knockdown, and Pownall won by disqualification when Clark was ruled out for shoving in the second round of their boxing bout. As of Tuesday, neither the Florida Athletic Commission nor any Duel Arena principal had issued a statement addressing the flag, the salutes, Miller’s remarks, the costume segment, or the promotion of the co-feature.