Social media star KSI makes his return to the boxing ring on March 29 when he faces Dillon Danis in a fight that was originally scheduled to take place back in 2023.
Unfortunately, the fight never happened after Danis dropped out but as much as KSI wanted to punch the multi-time grappling champion, this wasnât the matchup he initially wanted. On Tuesday, KSI revealed that his team reached out to several prominent UFC fighters to inquire about facing him in March, but every single request was rebuffed.
âYou guys always say that my opponents have been terrible but how many people pull out? I donât think you understand how many people pull out of fighting me,â KSI said on his YouTube channel
âEven with this fight, I know Iâm not even allowed to say it but f*ck it. Dillon Danis wasnât even my fourth choice. We went to Nate Diaz. He said no. We went to Donald Cerrone. He said no. We went to Tony Ferguson. He said no. These guys said no to me. Even [Jorge] Masvidal â we went to Masvidal to fight. He canât do it because of the UFC. Guys, weâve been trying to find people to fight.â
None of the fighters mentioned by KSI have responded, although both Cerrone and Masvidal are under exclusive contracts to the UFC so they would not have been available. As for Ferguson, he recently signed with the GFL with hopes that heâll debut there later this year.
That just leaves Diaz, who hasnât fought since July 2024 when he beat Masvidal in a back-and-forth boxing match, but thereâs no telling if he seriously considered a potential showdown against KSI.
KSI also addressed calls for him to face another UFC veteran in Darren Till, whoâs made a successful transition to boxing in recent months, which included a brutal stoppage victory over Anthony Taylor in his latest fight.
âI know you guys are going to be like âwhat about Darren Till?â Darren Till probably isnât going to want to fight at my fight weight and then if he does, heâs not going to want to do the rehydration clause,â KSI explained. âBecause brother is huge compared to me.
âI walk around at what 190, 195 [pounds]. Darren Till walks around at 220. Iâm not going to allow him to do what Tommy Fury did. Just kill himself to get to a certain weight, go on the scale and then balloon right back up to his natural weight. So guess what ladies and gentlemen? Itâs Dillon Danis.â
While he says all sorts of potential opponents were considered, KSI wasnât ultimately all that disappointed with the Danis fight considering the history they share.
When Danis pulled out of their previously scheduled matchup, KSI was left scrambling for a new opponent but this time heâs confident the former Bellator fighter is going to show up because he may not have another option.
âObviously, Misfits 3 I was meant to fight him and then he pulled out and I had to fight [Faze] Temper instead,â KSI explained. âNow ladies and gentlemen, I get my hands on him for real. That brother ainât pulling out this time because that boy is getting sued by Logan Paul and obviously he needs to pay for the court proceedings.
âSo he needs all the money he can get and you know what? Iâm quite excited to get to be the first person to knock out Dillon Danis. I think itâs going to be a fantastic day when it happens.â
Danis is currently embroiled in a lawsuit filed against him by Logan Paulâs fiancĂ©e Nina Agdal after she claimed he made her suffer âhumiliation, emotional distress and reputational harmâ from more than 250 posts he made about her on social media leading up to his fight against Paul.
In addition to all the opponents who didnât choose to fight him, KSI also addressed the long standing feud he shares with Jake Paul after theyâve been attached to each other since both started boxing.
Paul made plenty of headlines over the past few days after he was in agreement on a fight against Canelo Alvarez but the bout fell through at the 11th hour when the multi-division champion ended up signing a four-fight agreement to compete for Riyadh Season in Saudi Arabia.
In the aftermath of the fight falling apart, Paul blasted Canelo for not facing him but KSI says the former YouTuber turned boxer should have recognized right away what was happening.
âJake Paul was too busy crying that he didnât get the Canelo fight,â KSI said. âEven though he never had the Canelo fight. He was basically being used as a pawn. Canelo was just trolling. Why would Canelo want to fight Jake Paul?
â[Jake Paul is] running away from me! Bro does not want to fight me. Just like all these ex-UFC fighters. No one wants to fight me. People fight Jake Paul because they have a chance of beating him because heâs not actually that good.â
KSi is a weird guyâŠ
Offering fights to people he knows are under contract with the UFC still and there was some video of this strange youtuber humping his own mother on camera as well.
When Jake Paul inevitably gets back into the boxing ring after his sixth round TKO loss to Anthony Joshua, it wonât be against his longtime rival KSI. Thatâs because KSI â real name Olajide Olatunji â has officially announced heâs done boxing.
KSI is one of the pioneers of Influencer boxing, making the combat sports industry pay attention in 2018 with a Logan Paul fight that sold over a million pay-per-views. Heâd go on to found Misfits Boxing, which is one of the more stable promotions where YouTubers and social media stars can ply their wares. But after a five-fight run in 2022-2023 that ended with a 3-1-1 record, KSI lost his love for the game.
âIâd say the training, how physically and mentally draining it is, itâs just like nothing else,â KSI said on The Ranveer Show. âIâd say of everything Iâve done in my life, that is the hardest thing ⊠By the seventh or eighth week, youâre like, âWhy am I doing this? I hate this. This is horrible. Iâm getting beat up. I donât even want to get up anymore.ââ
âI fell ill, like, my body is starting to shut down because youâre just feeling sick. But you just have to fight through it. Every day, the same thing over and over and over again. Thatâs physically. Mentally, youâre just cooked.â
Add in the uncertainty that big fights would come together or that youâd get your hand raised in the ring, and the juice wasnât worth the squeeze.
âYou win? Fantastic. Best feeling ever. Euphoric. Youâre over the moon,â he said. âYou lose? âWhat a waste of my fâking time. What a waste. I literally spent 12 weeks of my life killing myself to not get the result I wanted.â
As for Jake Paul, KSI revealed that heâd been offered tens of millions to face âThe Problem Childâ but claimed Paul always had excuses early on and then bulked up too much to make the fight realistic.
âMy main goal when I got into the boxing ring again was to fight Jake Paul and build Misfits,â KSI said. âTime and time and time again, itâs just excuse after excuse after excuse ⊠I think I tried to build up again to try and fight Jake again, and then he was just getting heavier and heavier, trying to move the goal posts when it comes to weight. It got to the point where it was like, âWhat am I doing? Iâm done.ââ
âIâve been offered $20 million to fight Jake Paul, $30 million to fight Jake Paul,â he revealed. âThese guys canât give me any amount of money to fight this guy. When it comes to boxing, Iâm done.â
Is KSI even relevant in the UK still?
He for sure as shit ainât relevant anywhere else in the world.
He was supposed to fight Jake after his bother Logan 6 years a go but repeatedly came up with excuses despite fighting Logan at a weight he claims is too high for him with Jake.
Even though Logan is obviously the bigger brother of the two.
He is doing all these shitty reality shows now in the UK a loss to Jake would ruin his life at this point so doesnât surprise me that he is now running away and retiring.