Brian Shaw claims that contracts were not met for the upcoming fights.
Four-time World’s Strongest Man (WSM), Brian Shaw was preparing to make his MMA debut on Feb 17, 2024, in Qatar, against Martyn Ford but fighters will have to wait. There have been rumors about this event being cancelled and Shaw took to YouTube to officially confirm the cancellation on Monday.
Shaw was set to take on Ford in the ring on Feb. 17. It was an event that would also feature Eddie Hall and Mitchell Hooper battling and the winner of that match would take on Shaw as well. Leading up to the fight, there was a lack of advertisements, which caused come concern that it would not be happening. Shaw shared the news and voiced his displeasure about the cancellation.
“It looks like the February 17th date for my fight is, at the bare minimum, going to be postponed. Not great news coming out of this meeting. I’m frustrated and pissed off.”
Shaw’s video began with a training session preparing for the fight. Fast forward to the following day and Shaw was getting out of a meeting where he learned that the fight would be cancelled. He then went to the gym to train and share the news with his coaches.
Brian Shaw was training at a high level with many experienced coaches to prepare for his match with Ford, who has also trained at an MMA fighter.
“When I go into anything, I go in 100%. I don’t know how to do it any differently than that and this is no exception.”
Brian Shaw Shares Cancellation Of Fight
There were reports of Mitchell Hooper pulling out of the event due to contract disputes. The reigning World’s Strongest Man shared to his Instagram story that the fight was off after promoters dropped contract money from $30 million each to $3 million. Shaw mentioned contracts as well and this seems to be the driving force.
“There is a contract that was involved and that was the main reason I was involved. I could have done a lot with that but a lot of times, the beauty is in the journey. I guess time will tell but they have got a lot of ground to cover. You have to follow through with contracts, commitments, and what you say.”
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Ultimately, the companies that were involved in paying fighters for this event had to significantly change terms just days before. Hooper, who is prepared to compete during the Arnold Strongman Classic, shared that he did not believe it would happen so he did not spend time training for it. Instead, Hooper remains dedicated to Strongman for the 2024 season.
Brian Shaw continued to discuss his thoughts and shared that he is ready to go at any point.
“At a certain point, we just have to get some answers. I want to do it. I’m ready to do it and training to do it so let’s do it.
I’m proud of the way that I committed and proud of being committed to this 100%. When things like this happen, you have to take a step back and take a deep breathe.”
As of now, there are no plans for the fights to be rescheduled. Brian Shaw is the only one as of now to make an official statement on social media.
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