Bo Nickal and Bryce Hall discuss whether 'Influencer MMA' could become as successful as crossover boxing
07/07/2024 07:06 AM
Undefeated UFC prospect Bo Nickal and TikTok superstar Bryce Hall on whether 'Influencer MMA' can find the same success as boxing.
On a weekend with no UFC action, MMA fans had to turn their attention elsewhere for their fight fix.
Ironically, it was left to MMA stars Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal to put on a far better show than boxing champion Shakur Stevenson could muster in front of his home crowd – many of whom were filmed leaving the event before the 12th round had even started.
Such events are evidence that given the right scheduling, crossover combat events can indeed hold their own to the more traditional boxing scene – but could 'Influencer MMA' also find the same success in such a chaotic industry? Bo Nickal and Bryce Hall think so.
Bo Nickal and Bryce Hall discuss the idea of 'Influencer MMA'
After making a name for himself in the world of online content creation, mainly through TikTok, American social media personality Bryce Hall followed the trend in trying his hand in combat sports.
Whilst Hall was TKO'd in his boxing debut back in 2021, he made a triumphant return to combat sports with a genuinely impressive TKO win of his own in 2023 – this time in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
Over the weekend, Hall appeared on an episode of undefeated UFC middleweight contender Bo Nickal's 'Nickals and Dimes' podcast; and it didn't take long for the conversation to shift to what's next for the popular 24-year-old.
"I'm going to probably do another bareknuckle fight this year, we're in talks with that but I don't know whether after Bare Knuckle if I can go back to influencer boxing – I'm in this weird area right now where I don't know what to do.
"Eventually, I would want to do influencer MMA or something like that," shared Hall, with Nickal in firm agreement that the possibility of a crossover Mixed Martial Arts event would be a fantastic spectacle for the fans.
"I love that you brought up influencer MMA because we talk about that all the time like influencers are boxing each other, but if you want to actually fight they should do MMA.
"It should be influencer MMA fights because I think boxing is a great sport and I love it, but MMA is like a real fight so I'm 100% down for the influencer MMA – I think it would be way better."
Nickal, who is 6-0 as a professional and widely considered by many to be a future UFC champion in the making, acknowledged that the "The first influencer MMA fight is going to be legendary, it's going to be insane."
In turn, Hall shared that the possibility of holding an influencer MMA event is one that's been on his mind for a number of years – although there's only a handful of social media superstars who he thinks would be willing to step into the cage.
"I want to do it, I literally have been wanting to do it since I was 17 but for some reason no one is doing influencer MMA, it's so weird…
"I feel like if there's any influencer that would do MMA it would only be the Paul brothers [Jake and Logan]. I feel like those would be the only ones because they have a wrestling background, but to be honest they'd probably f*** me up in MMA."
One other name suggested by Hall was British social media star KSI, with the path to such an influencer MMA event actually being put together likely going through the PFL as they currently have the aforementioned Jake Paul already on their books.
"Besides them, I would do KSI – I would throw him around like it would be nothing. Anyone besides the Paul brothers, I'd be down…
"Doesn't Jake Paul have a piece of PFL? If he does something with PFL, I would fight on that undercard 100%, but you would have to get me back into my wrestling world.”
"Yeah, come out to PA and we'll take care of you brother," stated Nickal, who just a few hours after the podcast episode with Bryce Hall was posted online, took to social media to tease the date and location for his next bout in the UFC.
Sharing to Instagram, Nickal stated "UFC 309, Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY, November 9, 2024."
At the time of writing, no fights for UFC 309 have been officially confirmed, with the card expected to be headlined by the heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.
What do you think – could 'Influencer MMA' be the next big trend in the combat sports world, and who would you like to see scrap it out in the cage, as opposed to the boxing ring?
