Tag: Hasim Rahman Jr.

Greg Hardy replaces Vitor Belfort as opponent for Hasim Rahman Jr.

Greg Hardy will replace the ill Vitor Belfort as the opponent for Hasim Rahman Jr. on Saturday.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published at MMAJunkie.com.

The Misfits Boxing event scheduled for Saturday in Austin, Texas has a new main event, but a little UFC flare remains.

With former UFC champion Vitor Belfort out, former UFC heavyweight Greg Hardy has stepped in to fight Hasim Rahman Jr., in a four-round bout, the promotion announced Tuesday.

Rahman (12-1, 6 KOs) weighed 100 pounds less than Hardy (1-0, 1 KO) in their most recent bouts – 224¼ pounds, compared to 324½.

The show will be streamed on DAZN.

Belfort’s withdrawal was first reported by MMA Fighting. It is unclear at this time why Belfort withdrew.

Hardy, 34, made his professional boxing debut in October, when he defeated Michael Cook by a second-round TKO. Hardy went into boxing on the heels of his departure from the UFC in March, following the conclusion of his contract.

Prior to his UFC stint, Hardy was a Pro Bowl defensive end in the NFL. His career was riddled with controversies, including charges of domestic violence.

Rahman enters the bout off his first career loss, a fifth-round TKO against James McKenzie Morrison in April.

He was booked to fight Jake Paul at Madison Square Garden in August. However, Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions canceled the event when it claimed Rahman did not intend to make the agreed-upon weight. After the cancelation, Rahman Jr. held his own unofficial weigh-in to prove a point but still missed his scheduled mark by 1.6 pounds.

Greg Hardy replaces Vitor Belfort as opponent for Hasim Rahman Jr.

Greg Hardy will replace the ill Vitor Belfort as the opponent for Hasim Rahman Jr. on Saturday.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published at MMAJunkie.com.

The Misfits Boxing event scheduled for Saturday in Austin, Texas has a new main event, but a little UFC flare remains.

With former UFC champion Vitor Belfort out, former UFC heavyweight Greg Hardy has stepped in to fight Hasim Rahman Jr., in a four-round bout, the promotion announced Tuesday.

Rahman (12-1, 6 KOs) weighed 100 pounds less than Hardy (1-0, 1 KO) in their most recent bouts – 224¼ pounds, compared to 324½.

The show will be streamed on DAZN.

Belfort’s withdrawal was first reported by MMA Fighting. It is unclear at this time why Belfort withdrew.

Hardy, 34, made his professional boxing debut in October, when he defeated Michael Cook by a second-round TKO. Hardy went into boxing on the heels of his departure from the UFC in March, following the conclusion of his contract.

Prior to his UFC stint, Hardy was a Pro Bowl defensive end in the NFL. His career was riddled with controversies, including charges of domestic violence.

Rahman enters the bout off his first career loss, a fifth-round TKO against James McKenzie Morrison in April.

He was booked to fight Jake Paul at Madison Square Garden in August. However, Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions canceled the event when it claimed Rahman did not intend to make the agreed-upon weight. After the cancelation, Rahman Jr. held his own unofficial weigh-in to prove a point but still missed his scheduled mark by 1.6 pounds.

Greg Hardy replaces Vitor Belfort, fights Hasim Rahman Jr. at Misfits Boxing event

It is unclear why Vitor Belfort is out, but Greg Hardy has stepped up to the plate.

The upcoming Misfits Boxing event scheduled for Austin, Texas has a new main event, but a little UFC flare remains.

With former UFC champion [autotag]Vitor Belfort[/autotag] out, former UFC heavyweight [autotag]Greg Hardy[/autotag] has stepped in to fight [autotag]Hasim Rahman Jr.[/autotag], the promotion announced Tuesday.

The four-round bout will take place at heavyweight, though Rahman Jr. (12-1) weighed exactly 100 pounds less than Hardy (1-0) in their most recent bouts – 224 pounds, compared to 324 pounds.

The event, Misfits Boxing 3, is scheduled for Saturday at Moody Theater in Austin, Texas and streams on DAZN.

Belfort’s withdrawal was first reported by MMA Fighting. It is unclear at this time why Belfort withdrew.

Hardy, 34, made his professional boxing debut in October when he defeated Michael Cook by second-round TKO. The delve into boxing came on the heels of a departure from the UFC in March following the conclusion of his contract.

Prior to his UFC stint, Hardy was a Pro Bowl defensive end in the NFL. His career was riddled with controversies however, including charges of domestic violence.

Rahman enters the bout off his first career loss, a fifth-round TKO against James McKenzie Morrison in April. He was booked to fight Jake Paul at Madison Square Garden in August. However, Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions canceled the event when it claimed Rahman Jr. was off-weight and did not intend on a further weight cut. After the cancellation, Rahman Jr. held his own unofficial weigh-in to prove a point – but still missed his scheduled mark by 1.6 pounds.

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Former UFC champion Vitor Belfort set to box Hasim Rahman Jr.

Vitor Belfort’s boxing career continues on, as he’s scheduled to box Hasim Rahman Jr. in Sheffield, England.

[autotag]Vitor Belfort[/autotag] isn’t done yet.

A former UFC light heavyweight champion, Belfort (1-0) will continue his excursion into the world of boxing when he battles [autotag]Hasim Rahman Jr.[/autotag] (12-1) at DAZN X Series 002, the promotion announced during its debut event Friday that featured YouTuber KSI.

The Belfort vs. Rahman event is scheduled for Oct. 15 in Sheffield, England, and will serve as one half of a double main event. The second main event will be announced at a later date. KSI’s promotion Misfits Boxing will promote the event.

Belfort, 45, made his professional boxing debut in September when he knocked out 58-year-old former boxing champion Evander Holyfield in 104 seconds. After the bout was not allowed to happen in California due to safety concerns, it was scrutinized by some due to the age of the competitors. instead moved to Florida.

The bout marked the first professional combat sports competition for Belfort since his final UFC bout against Lyoto Machida in May 2018.

After the Holyfield match, Belfort was scheduled to compete in a hybrid rules match against Chad Dawson for Triad Combat. However, the event was canceled and the bout was not rescheduled.

Rahman Jr, 31, was expected to box Jake Paul at Madison Square Garden on Aug. 6. However, after Most Valuable Promotions perceived Rahman Jr. would not live up to his weight obligations, the card was canceled. The two parties disagreed on the decision to cancel. Rahman Jr. said the promotion jumped the gun.

In an attempt to prove that point, Rahman Jr. held his own unofficial weigh-in, and still came in one pound over the heaviest weight limit compromise Paul offered.

Entering his bout vs. Belfort, Rahman Jr. will look to bounce back from his first professional loss, a TKO defeat to James McKenzie Morrison in April. The combined record of his opponents prior (at the time of his matches against them) was 56-116.

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Video: Jake Paul releases sparring footage with Hasim Rahman Jr. after canceled bout

Video: Jake Paul has released the full sparring footage with Hasim Rahman Jr. after their canceled bout.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published at MMAJunkie.com.

Jake Paul and Hasim Rahman Jr. both had a lot to say about their time training together prior to their planned boxing match, which was supposed to take place Saturday at Madison Square Garden before it was canceled.

When Tommy Fury fell out of the date, Paul selected a former training partner in Rahman to step in as the replacement. The contest never materialized. Paul and his team opted to cancel the entire event when they thought Rahman was being devious about his weight and would never get down to the agreed-upon limit.

Rahman has been upset about the situation, and even did a mock weigh-in on Friday at which he came in 1.6 pounds over the 205-pound limit.

Regardless, the fight didn’t happen and Paul indicated he intends to move on to something else whenever he returns to the boxing ring.

That doesn’t mean the tension between Paul and Rahman has fizzled, though, and the YouTuber-turned-boxer proved as much by releasing a seemingly complete and largely unedited version of their sparring from early 2020.

Check out the video above to see how it all unfolded.

[lawrence-related id=31868,31850,31847,31793]

Video: Jake Paul releases sparring footage with Hasim Rahman Jr. after canceled bout

Video: Jake Paul has released the full sparring footage with Hasim Rahman Jr. after their canceled bout.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published at MMAJunkie.com.

Jake Paul and Hasim Rahman Jr. both had a lot to say about their time training together prior to their planned boxing match, which was supposed to take place Saturday at Madison Square Garden before it was canceled.

When Tommy Fury fell out of the date, Paul selected a former training partner in Rahman to step in as the replacement. The contest never materialized. Paul and his team opted to cancel the entire event when they thought Rahman was being devious about his weight and would never get down to the agreed-upon limit.

Rahman has been upset about the situation, and even did a mock weigh-in on Friday at which he came in 1.6 pounds over the 205-pound limit.

Regardless, the fight didn’t happen and Paul indicated he intends to move on to something else whenever he returns to the boxing ring.

That doesn’t mean the tension between Paul and Rahman has fizzled, though, and the YouTuber-turned-boxer proved as much by releasing a seemingly complete and largely unedited version of their sparring from early 2020.

Check out the video above to see how it all unfolded.

[lawrence-related id=31868,31850,31847,31793]

Video: Jake Paul releases full sparring footage with Hasim Rahman Jr. after canceled boxing bout

Jake Paul has released video of his full sparring session with Hasim Rahman Jr. just one day after they were supposed to fight.

[autotag]Jake Paul[/autotag] and [autotag]Hasim Rahman Jr.[/autotag] both had a lot to say about their time training together prior to their planned boxing match, which was supposed to take place Saturday at Madison Square Garden before it was canceled.

When Tommy Fury fell out of the date, Paul selected a former training partner in Rahman to step in as the replacement. The contest never materialized. Paul and his team opted to cancel the entire event when they thought Rahman was being devious about his weight and would never get down to the agreed-upon limit.

Rahman has been upset about the situation, and even did a mock weigh-in on Friday at which he came in 1.6 pounds over the 205-pound limit.

Regardless, the fight didn’t happen and Paul indicated he intends to move on to something else whenever he returns to the boxing ring.

That doesn’t mean the tension between Paul and Rahman has fizzled, though, and the YouTuber-turned-boxer proved as much by releasing a seemingly complete and largely unedited version of their sparring from early 2020.

Check out the video above to see how it all unfolded.

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Michael Rapaport puts ‘Fake Paul’ on blast, says poor ticket sales led to Rahman Jr. cancellation

Michael Rapaport put ‘Fake Paul’ on blast, saying poor ticket sales led to Rahman Jr. cancellation.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published at MMAJunkie.com.

You can count Michael Rapaport among people who don’t appear to be Jake Paul fans.

The longtime actor and well-known sports fan has had a social media resurgence in the past few years for his “I am Rapaport” podcast. He posts regular rants on Instagram, and Wednesday he took aim at YouTube star-turned-boxer Jake Paul.

Rapaport joined the chorus of skeptics, including UFC president Dana White, who are saying the cancellation of Paul’s boxing match against Hasim Rahman Jr., which was supposed to take place Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, where Rapaport is from, was because of something other than the announced reason.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cg0ROwUpAIc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Rapaport said poor ticket sales forced Paul’s side and the promotion to cancel the event under the guise of Rahman not being able to make weight. Rahman’s side has disputed that.

“Fake Paul … Fake Paul … Don’t front. Stop the lying and the bullcrapping,” Rapaport said in a video posted to Instagram. “Your fight that was supposed to go down in the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, didn’t get canceled because of some weight thing to the fake fighter that you were going to fight in Madison Square Garden.

“It got canceled because no one bought tickets, OK? Because the ghosts of Madison Square Garden – the same arena where (Muhammad) Ali fought (Joe) Frazier, where Jake LaMotta fought Sugar Ray Robinson, where Hulk Hogan fought Andre the Giant … Madison Square Garden – they did not want to see you in there. No one bought tickets to that fake fight, Fake Paul. You’re not a fighter. You want to be a real fighter? Fight a real fighter, OK. Take a real drug test, OK? The ruse, the con, the bull-jive, is over, Fake Paul.”

Nakisa Bidarian, Paul’s busiess partner and a former accountant with the UFC, posted on Instagram on Tuesday to respond to White by saying the event was set to be one of MSG’s top 10 boxing gates since 2005.

According to Most Valuable Promotions, Rahman did not maintain his weight in an honest fashion and requested multiple times the bout be shifted to a heavier weight class. The promotion claimed Rahman originally agreed to a 200-pound cruiserweight bout and provided proof to the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) he weighed 216 pounds July 7. But the promotion said at the time of cancellation that Rahman had only lost one pound since his July 7 weigh-in. The promotion said it offered a new 205-pound contract weight, but decided to cancel the bout after Rahman’s camp demanded 215 pounds.

Paul posted video comments about the fight falling off and said Rahman was scared to fight him.

“This is just another case of a professional boxer, just like Tommy Fury being scared to fight me,” Paul said. “It’s as clear as day that these guys have been so unprofessional to work with, looking for any excuse to suck more money out of this event, to coerce us into doing things. From the jump, I knew in the bottom of my heart that this guy didn’t want to get in there with me. It’s clear as day.”

Rapaport’s acting resume is deep. And while The Blue Corner forever will praise the majesty that was Rapaport as Dick Ritchie in “True Romance” alongside Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette nearly 30 years ago, more recently he’s had a recurring role in Season 2 of the Emmy-nominated “Only Murders in the Building” on Hulu and had a critically acclaimed role as Amy Schumer’s dad on “Life & Beth,” also on Hulu.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

Michael Rapaport puts ‘Fake Paul’ on blast, says poor ticket sales led to Rahman Jr. cancellation

Michael Rapaport put ‘Fake Paul’ on blast, saying poor ticket sales led to Rahman Jr. cancellation.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published at MMAJunkie.com.

You can count Michael Rapaport among people who don’t appear to be Jake Paul fans.

The longtime actor and well-known sports fan has had a social media resurgence in the past few years for his “I am Rapaport” podcast. He posts regular rants on Instagram, and Wednesday he took aim at YouTube star-turned-boxer Jake Paul.

Rapaport joined the chorus of skeptics, including UFC president Dana White, who are saying the cancellation of Paul’s boxing match against Hasim Rahman Jr., which was supposed to take place Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, where Rapaport is from, was because of something other than the announced reason.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cg0ROwUpAIc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Rapaport said poor ticket sales forced Paul’s side and the promotion to cancel the event under the guise of Rahman not being able to make weight. Rahman’s side has disputed that.

“Fake Paul … Fake Paul … Don’t front. Stop the lying and the bullcrapping,” Rapaport said in a video posted to Instagram. “Your fight that was supposed to go down in the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, didn’t get canceled because of some weight thing to the fake fighter that you were going to fight in Madison Square Garden.

“It got canceled because no one bought tickets, OK? Because the ghosts of Madison Square Garden – the same arena where (Muhammad) Ali fought (Joe) Frazier, where Jake LaMotta fought Sugar Ray Robinson, where Hulk Hogan fought Andre the Giant … Madison Square Garden – they did not want to see you in there. No one bought tickets to that fake fight, Fake Paul. You’re not a fighter. You want to be a real fighter? Fight a real fighter, OK. Take a real drug test, OK? The ruse, the con, the bull-jive, is over, Fake Paul.”

Nakisa Bidarian, Paul’s busiess partner and a former accountant with the UFC, posted on Instagram on Tuesday to respond to White by saying the event was set to be one of MSG’s top 10 boxing gates since 2005.

According to Most Valuable Promotions, Rahman did not maintain his weight in an honest fashion and requested multiple times the bout be shifted to a heavier weight class. The promotion claimed Rahman originally agreed to a 200-pound cruiserweight bout and provided proof to the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) he weighed 216 pounds July 7. But the promotion said at the time of cancellation that Rahman had only lost one pound since his July 7 weigh-in. The promotion said it offered a new 205-pound contract weight, but decided to cancel the bout after Rahman’s camp demanded 215 pounds.

Paul posted video comments about the fight falling off and said Rahman was scared to fight him.

“This is just another case of a professional boxer, just like Tommy Fury being scared to fight me,” Paul said. “It’s as clear as day that these guys have been so unprofessional to work with, looking for any excuse to suck more money out of this event, to coerce us into doing things. From the jump, I knew in the bottom of my heart that this guy didn’t want to get in there with me. It’s clear as day.”

Rapaport’s acting resume is deep. And while The Blue Corner forever will praise the majesty that was Rapaport as Dick Ritchie in “True Romance” alongside Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette nearly 30 years ago, more recently he’s had a recurring role in Season 2 of the Emmy-nominated “Only Murders in the Building” on Hulu and had a critically acclaimed role as Amy Schumer’s dad on “Life & Beth,” also on Hulu.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

Video: Hasim Rahman Jr. misses weight at staged weigh-in after Jake Paul bout cancellation

Although his bout vs. Jake Paul was called off, Hasim Rahman Jr. staged a weigh-in Friday in New York to prove a point.

[autotag]Hasim Rahman Jr.[/autotag] wasn’t required to step on a scale Friday, but he did so anyway to prove a point – though it can be debated what point he made.

Friday in New York, Rahman Jr. stepped on the scale in an unofficial weigh-in he staged himself. The date and time were approximately when he would’ve weighed in officially had his bout vs. [autotag]Jake Paul[/autotag] not been canceled.

In front of his team and some reporters, Rahman Jr. weighed in at 206.6 pounds, what would’ve been a weight miss for the 205-pound bout (via Mirror Fighting).

Shortly after news surfaced of Rahman Jr.’s mock weigh-in miss, Paul reacted on Twitter.

“HAHAHHAHAHAHA KARMAS A BITCH,” Paul wrote.

Soon after, Rahman Jr. tweeted that in his contractual agreement with Paul, there was a clause for a 25 percent fine for every pound missed that would’ve come into play. Once again, he accused Paul of dodging him.

“206.6. Exposure,” Rahman wrote. “The 25% purse fines were a post of the contract for a reason. Y’all stay tuned more exposure in a few… Never in the history of boxing has someone pulled out a fight a week in advance over weight issues. I tried to tell y’all, ‘he’s a runner he’s a trackstar.”

The two parties have offered differing takes on the ultimate reasoning behind the bout’s cancellation since the news broke Saturday. A news release by Paul’s promotion Most Valuable Promotions indicated Rahman Jr. continually moved goal posts when it came to the contracted weight, as the promotion shifted from a 200-pound mark to 205-pound to accommodate him. This, all while Rahman had not shown the promotion or New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) any progress in weight shed.

Rahman Jr. responded shortly thereafter and said Paul was afraid to face a true boxer. He indicated there was a chance he could’ve made the weight anyway, but if not, one of his training partners would’ve stepped in. The promotion declined alternatives, according to Rahman Jr.

UFC president Dana White theorized Saturday following UFC 270 in Dallas the bout was canceled due to poor ticket sales. However, in a recent statement issued to MMA Fighting, Madison Square Garden indicated that was not the case.

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