Ahead of his upcoming MMA debut, 2017 ‘World’s Strongest Man’ winner Eddie Hall has tipped the scales at a whopping 166.6kg, or 367lb.
The towering 6’3″ strongman is set for a 2v1 MMA ‘freak fight’ against influencer siblings The Neffati Brothers tonight in Blackburn. The pair are both less than half his size, and collectively weigh-in at 132kg, or 291lb.
Hall has been training for a debut in the cage since the middle of last year, after losing his boxing debut to Thor Bjornsson in 2022. And he faces a different kind of challenge tonight when he takes on two opponents at once in an outlandish spectacle.
Eddie Hall has massive weight advantage for 2v1 MMA fight
Eddie Hall, who has weighed as high as 433lb during his strongman days, looked lean despite tipping scales at a monstrous 367lb for his MMA debut. The bout is already unorthodox, but at that much higher than the 265lb heavyweight limit, the Brit is fighting at a rare super-heavyweight.
Meanwhile, the Neffati Brothers Jamel and Jamil were 65 and 67kg respectively, or 143lb and 148lb. The pair are involved in the running of the World Freak Fight League, which debuts in the UK tonight with the bizarre matchup.
The card also features Myles Stephenson from the X-Factor winning boyband Rak-Su and a number of other strange bouts. There will be an Ed Sheeran lookalike facing a Stormzy lookalike among other ridiculous bouts.
Eddie Hall and Neffati Brothers final face-off descends into madness
After the Brit was forced to join via satellite for the first pre-fight press conference, the trio’s press conference on Tuesday was the only time they were able to size each other up. The banter between them was juvenile, before they finally faced off.
Hall had his large water bottle taken from him by one of the brothers, before being subjected to a number of fan questions, mostly from the hometown lads’ own supporters. And when it came time to face off, he was slapped by one of the brothers, who was sitting on his sibling’s shoulders.
This caused a scuffle between the two camps, with security being needed to keep them apart, And when their friend Salim Chiboub, who fights in a dwarf bout on the undercard, continued to kick at Hall’s leg he was thrown across the stage at one of the brothers.
Eddie Hall explains why he took up MMA after losing boxing effort
Following his grudge fight with Thor Bjornsson, Hall took some time away from combat but appeared to always have an eye towards fighting again. After both men dropped each other in a thrilling ‘titanweight’ contest in Dubai, the pair opted not to rematch and ended up leaving boxing.
But Hall continued to train and was due to take part in a tournament with some other strongmen this February before funding fell apart at the last minute. Instead, he stayed in the gym and has now signed up for this outlandish outing.
Since his last fight, he famously recorded the strongest punch in the history of the UFC Performance Insitute during a visit to Las Vegas. Francis Ngannou had previously held the record, and it has since been broken by UFC light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
“This 2v1 is completely different and I never thought I’d have this offer on the table,” Hall told the gathered Blackburn crowd at Tuesday’s press conference. “I’ve took it knowing full well that it’s going to end up bringing more work in.
“I enjoy the combat side of things, I enjoy training with these two [his training team], you get to bond with your coach. I enjoy it and that’s the most important thing, enjoying what you do.”