The eighth iteration of KSI‘s Misfits Boxing series will bring a fresh twist to the influencer boxing fad. On July 22, a showdown in Nashville will feature a main card with a unique format. Four creators — NichLmao, Swarmz, Ryan Johnston, and BDave — will occupy the ring at the same time for a “survivor tag” clash.
Each of the four creators will get their own corner of the ring, but only two combatants will fight at the same time. A social media vote will determine which two participants raise their gloves first. Then, at any point, the starting fighters can force their idle counterparts to “tag in” for them. Anyone who refuses a tag request will be eliminated, and the last fighter left standing will earn the win.
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Based on the respective followings of the four participating creators, NichLmao is likely to be voted as one of the two starting fighters. The multiformat star reaches 25 million subscribers on YouTube, and he often ranks among the 50 most-watched U.S.-based channels in our Tubefilter charts.
The undercard for the July 22 event will feature more creators and more innovative formats. YouTube gun enthusiast Brandon Herrera will meet Kick sensation Ac7ionMan at cruiserweight, and two pairs of fighters will team up for a tag-team match.
Tag-team fighting made its first Misfits appearance in the fifth iteration of event, which also featured NichLmao’s first main card appearance. The Misfits series has gotten big enough to fill up London’s O2 arena, where KSI battled Swarmz last year.
KSI (real name J.J. Olatunji) is the founder of Misfits Boxing, but the promotion is led by an exec team that includes Co-Presidents Mams Taylor and Kalle Sauerland. “Misfits Boxing has done it again! We’ve had KSI facing two opponents on the same night, mystery opponents, tag team boxing, and now, a four-way survivor match-up,” Sauerland said in a statement. “Nashville, I hope you are ready because 008 is going to go down in the history books.”
Misfits Boxing 008 will take place at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in the Tennessee capital. The event will be streamed via Misfits’ usual broadcast partner: Pay-per-view platform DAZN.
The decision to style the fight as “008” suggests that the Misfits Boxing series could one day stretch to triple digits. KSI is already thinking about celebrities who could be included on future fight cards. One legend on his mind is recently-retired soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic. “I would love for that to happen, that would be incredible,” KSI said when asked about Ibrahimovic. “I’ve seen him on the bag, he looks like he can bang. Let’s go, bro, get in the ring, get in the squared circle mate.”
