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Biography
Natan Levy (born September 30, 1991) is an Israeli professional mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Early life
Natan Levy was born on (1991-09-30)30 September 1991 in Paris, France to a traditional Jewish family. He moved to Israel as a toddler and grew up in Herzliya. Levy began practicing martial arts as a teenager, training three hours a day by 15 years old, and earned his black belt in Chinese martial arts at the age of 17. One year later, he traveled to Okinawa, Japan to receive his black belt in Karate.
Prior to his professional MMA career, Levy worked as a martial arts instructor and ran a Karate dojo in Tel Aviv, Israel. After being awarded his 3rd degree black belt in Uechi-Ryū Karate, he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States at the age of 22 in order to train in mixed martial arts 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 submission in the first minute of the first round. One month later, he defeated Josh Brady in the first round via rear naked choke 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 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 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 finally beat Santana via arm triangle choke submission in the third round.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Following his victory over Santana, Levy signed a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Initially fighting in the featherweight division, he moved up a weight class and began his UFC journey in the lightweight 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 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.
Personal life
Levy is an atheist. 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 and Chris Curtis.
Mixed martial arts record
| 9 matches | 8 wins | 1 loss |
| By submission | 3 | 0 |
| By decision | 5 | 1 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 8–1 | Genaro Valdéz | Decision (unanimous) | UFC on ESPN: Thompson vs. Holland | December 3, 2022 | 3 | 5:00 | Orlando, Florida, U.S. | |
| Win | 7–1 | Mike Breeden | Decision (unanimous) | UFC on ESPN: Font vs. Vera | April 30, 2022 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | |
| Loss | 6–1 | Rafa García | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. Tate | November 20, 2021 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | Lightweight debut. |
| Win | 6–0 | Shaheen Santana | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | Dana White's Contender Series 35 | November 10, 2020 | 3 | 0:55 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | Catchweight (160 lb) bout. |
| Win | 5–0 | Ben Lugo | Decision (majority) | LFA 88 | August 21, 2020 | 3 | 5:00 | Sioux Falls, South Dakota, U.S. | |
| Win | 4–0 | Nicholas Badis | Decision (unanimous) | LFA 69 | June 7, 2019 | 3 | 5:00 | Cabazon, California, U.S. | |
| Win | 3–0 | Henry Barahona | Decision (unanimous) | LFA 58 | January 25, 2019 | 3 | 5:00 | Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. | |
| Win | 2–0 | Cameron Underhill | Submission (guillotine choke) | LFA 45 | July 20, 2018 | 1 | 0:29 | Cabazon, California, U.S. | |
| Win | 1–0 | Marcus Sims | Submission (armbar) | LFA 36 | March 23, 2018 | 1 | 1:25 | Cabazon, California, U.S. | Featherweight debut. |
| Amateur record breakdown | ||
| 4 matches | 4 wins | 0 losses |
| By submission | 3 | 0 |
| By decision | 1 | 0 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 4–0 | Geoffrey Mellor | Submission (guillotine choke) | Tuff-N-Uff - Pack The Mack | June 17, 2017 | 3 | 0:41 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | |
| Win | 3–0 | Daniel Hudson | Decision (unanimous) | Heartland FC: Genesis | December 3, 2016 | 3 | 3:00 | Marion, Illinois, U.S. | |
| Win | 2–0 | Josh Brady | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Real MMA 11 | July 29, 2016 | 1 | 0:50 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | |
| Win | 1–0 | Isaac Caranza | Submission (guillotine choke) | Tuff-N-Uff - Pack The Mack | June 25, 2016 | 1 | 0:56 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
