Thor Bjornsson has predicted Martyn Ford will easily beat Iranian Hulk - whose real name is Sajjad Gharibi - in their fight next month.
Bjornsson silenced his former strongman rival Eddie Hall by winning a unanimous decision in Dubai against the Brit last weekend. The former World's Strongest Man is hoping to fight again after falling in love with boxing since taking up the sport two years ago.
A potential opponent for Bjornsson could be the 'World's Scariest Man' Ford, who makes his ring debut against Gharibi at The O2 arena on April 30. The pair were supposed to fight on April 2, but injuries to several fighters on the undercard pushed back the event.
Bjornsson is unconvinced by Gharibi after seeing several pictures of him online. Fans have also voiced their concern over Gharibi's bizarre training videos as the Iranian has posted minimal footage of actual boxing training during the lead up to the fight.
"I don't think Martyn Ford's gonna win that fight,' he told Boxing King Media. "The other guy [Gharibi] doesn't look in shape at all, I don't know the other guy though. From what I've seen on pictures, he looks big and doesn't look like he has the endurance to even go one round in my opinion. Martyn Ford, I've seen some clips of him and he looks ok."
Ford said before Bjornsson's fight that the former strongman had been too nervous in the build-up and claimed he was "too soft" for boxing. But Bjornsson proved Ford wrong as he knocked down Hall twice on the way to outpointing him in their grudge fight.
“Thor has been very edgy the last two days," Ford told iFL TV before Bjornsson vs Hall. "Like I said before this fight, I was like, I think Thor is too soft. I think he has just not got that ‘(signalling energy).’"
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Ford's fight against Gharibi has been in the making for several years. The Brit signed for Polish MMA promotion KSW in 2018 to try and set up the clash but Gharibi, who didn't join Ford in signing for KSW, claimed his rival refused to fight in the cage.
"I suggested a bare-knuckle fight, and he refused to have an MMA fight," he told TV Plus. "He had a boxing match in mind instead and he said that he would only box. I am not a boxer and have never done any boxing training, but I accepted anyway, because I thought that if I refuse to fight, it all would get worse and worse and he will believe that I am a coward."
