The South Florida-based acapella rapper duo, Island Boys, went viral on social media, especially on TikTok, last year with their self-titled song. Kodiyakredd and Flyysoulja gained notoriety online as some were entertained by their act and others saw them as just another cringe-worthy thing from TikTok.
In the MMA community, they gained fame as apparently, MMA journalist Ariel Helwani was a fan of the duo and mentioned them a lot in his shows. Back in October, he pushed the competitors on the UFC 267 card to use ‘Island Boys’ as their walk-in song. He got his wish as Virna Jandiroba came out with that song to the octagon.
The MMA community’s enthusiasm for them, however, appears to have diminished since then. Attempting to get more attention, they now have released another video on Kodiyakredd’s Instagram account.
In the video, they showed off their boxing, and probably kickboxing, skills on the mitts to their fans and followers. “No rapper can do this man, I swear, yeah,” said one of them, not sure Kodiyakredd or Flyysoulja.
Although it’s just wild punches and a random kick, they once again caught the attention of their biggest fan in the MMA scene, Ariel Helwani.
Helwani took to Twitter to share his admiration, jokingly claiming that with more training, the duo could become legit players. “Really impressive form. Mix in a little #helwaniboxing and they could be legit players.”
Island Boys also tried to make an appearance in combat sports with the duo attending the Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley II match last December. But unfortunately for them, they were roundly booed and got drinks thrown at them by the crowd in Tampa’s Amalie Arena.
They were also nearly involved in a big brawl that forced them out of the building. If they are making another public appearance like that, getting more boxing training will probably come in handy.
Really impressive form. Mix in a little #helwaniboxing and they could be legit players pic.twitter.com/DHb02HK6Is
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 25, 2022