"I just like to bang;" Teenage Muay Thai fighter called "The Hebrew Hammer" wants to show the resiliency of the Jewish community
A Los Angeles teenager is working hard to become a professional mixed martial arts fighter so he can show the resiliency coursing through the veins of many in the Jewish community.
Nicknamed "The Hebrew Hammer," Asher Tessler stands at 5-foot-10-inches and weighs a lean but mean 132 pounds. Through three fights, the 17-year-old Muay Thai specialist remains undefeated.
"I just like to bang, really," Tessler said. "I like to get in there and throw hands."
Tessler said he is not only the sole Orthodox Jewish fighter at his gym, Fight Science MMA, but many times he's the first Orthodox Jewish person many of his opponents have ever met.
"It was cool to be like the first Orthodox Jewish fighter they met," said Tessler. "We're not that different. Just people pursuing dreams, all the same."
Tessler hopes to transition from Muy Thai to mixed martial arts once he turns 18 years old. Eventually, he wants to fight in the UFC and use his platform to show the resiliency in the Jewish community.
"We're not weak. We don't lie down," said Tessler.
He also wants to teach the world what it feels like to be Jewish in America. Tessler said a few weeks ago a man threatened to kill his family while they walked home from their synagogue.
"It's just craziness that this is a normal thing that can be happening to an Orthodox Jewish person day-to-day in America — in LA," said Tessler.
He steps into the cage for his next title fighter in Carson next week.
"If fighting is how I can represent myself, represent my community," said Tessler. "I wanna use it to represent the Jewish people."
