Sajad Gharibi, also known as The Iranian Hulk said his bare-knuckle boxing debut was canceled over doubts that he was “real”.
Gharibi is set to box another giant, Martyn Ford, on April 30 at The O2 arena in London to settle their ‘personal’ business. This boxing match will be Gharibi’s first boxing event ever. However, back before COVID-19 became a worldwide problem, Gharibi was on the verge of launching a bare-knuckle boxing career.
In November 2019, it was announced that the 30-year-old Iranian was set to compete in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC). The promotion’s founder and president David Feldman had a lot of faith in Gharibi. He was so sure that Gharibi would become a star in his promotion.
“This guy’s going to make his Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship debut in early 2020. We’re going to do a show entitled ‘USA vs. Iran: World War III’. He’s literally our biggest signing we’ve ever had. But he’s going to make his way over to the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, he’s going to make a home here, and we expect really, really big things from ‘The Iranian Hulk’.” Feldman said.
Unfortunately, his debut never materialized – thanks to the pandemic. Many places in the world got shut down, including BKFC which cancelled all events from February to July 2020. They were also required to have a minimal audience if they plan to roll out an event.
But, the pandemic is not the only thing to blame for Gharibi’s cancellation. Recently, David Feldmen revealed that there is no proof that Sajad Gharibi is ‘real’. BKFC has never received proof that Gharibi’s pictures on social media are real and not edited in spite of seeking them out
Gharibi is a social media star and has an avid online following. Many fans debate the realness of his photos. The scrutiny reached the next level thanks to the contentious face off and press conference he had with ‘World’s scariest man’, Martyn Ford. Ford subsequently claimed he would go on to finish Hulk in 17 seconds and questioned his will to participate.
Sajad Gharibi has a number of pictures depicting an impressive and otherworldly physique. It’s become apparent that Gharibi’s physique is at the very least embellished. When the time came for him to show off his enormous muscles in real life, he fell short. And to this day he never appeared in public shirtless. Gharibi also boasted of a 30 lbs weight loss in lead up to Ford bout – the authenticity of the claim has been questioned. While boxing might require a lot more cardio, Gharibi’s alleged weight is a under a lot of scrutiny. In lead up to the clash, Ford even shaded Gharibi for catfishing claims. The original date for the clash was April 2nd, but following an undisclosed injury it was postponed for the 30th.
BKFC was ultimately dismayed and ended talks with the Iranian Hulk over legitimacy claims. This is the likely culprit for why they haven’t offered a new deal to Gharibi. Gharibi was recently ‘exposed’ on twitter for the discrepancies in his physique between instagram and reality.