Sajjad Gharibi, also known as the 'Iranian Hulk', will square off with Djumanov Almat Bakhytovich, the 'Kazakh Titan' in Dubai on July 31.
Social media star Gharibi has over one million followers on Instagram, and was in training for a boxing match with Martyn Ford before it was cancelled in April. He has been pushing for another fight through the Iranian media and posts to his fans, and Mirror Fighting understands he has now signed a deal to face Bakhytovich later this month.
The Kazakh strongman has a considerably smaller social media following, with around 24,000 on Instagram, but has been aggressively pushing for the fight in recent months. And the pair recently agreed a deal to square off at the P7 Arena in the Media One Hotel on July 31.
The card will be co-promoted by British outfit Wicked 'N' Bad, who have put on influencer fights in the past. And it will feature other social media celebrities, including the controversial YouTube star Ryan Taylor, who was recently removed from Kingpyn Boxing's July 16 fight night.
He was due to face Slim Albaher at The O2's Indigo venue later this month, but was forced out after a hotel scuffle in which his opponent was injured. Taylor infamously head-butted his opponent DK Money during his debut fight at the OVO Arena Wembley back in March on Showstar Boxing's event.
Talks are underway for Taylor to face another influencer, although stars from other sports are also being spoken to at the moment. An official announcement for the event is expected on Monday.
Gharibi has insisted that he was keen to fight Ford on April 30 at The O2 arena in London, but the Brit pulled out due to concerns over his rival's mental health. The pair had a comical face-off prior to the fight, after which the 'Iranian Hulk' declared that his parents had disowned him.
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"I cannot call my family; when I returned [to Iran] I didn't go to my family," Hulk said during an Iranian TV interview while bursting into tears."I can't talk to my father and my mother.
"When I spoke to her, [she] said: 'The person in this video that I saw was not my son, my son is way stronger than this'. It hurts my heart when I can't talk to my family. I have lost my pride and I am destroyed. How can I explain? They deceived me and I fell to the ground."
However, he was outraged when Ford cancelled their fight weeks later, and threatened legal action. "I heard Ford doesn't want to fight," he said. "It is not me [and] not any other fighters. I never cancelled any fight between us but he doesn't want see me again! It is against the contract and my legal team have started looking at it."
"Actually 'pretty boy' can't ever fight, he just hides and runs away, he must have a permission from a women first. I can't believe an opponent like him, it's shameful. This victory isn't an honour for me, it's a century joke not a century fight."
