Eddie Hall and Brian Shaw discuss six to seven-figures financial loss after MMA tournament falls through: "There was no reason to think it was a hoax"

Eddie Hall and Brian Shaw sat down on a recent episode of the latter's podcast, SHAWSTRENGTH PODCAST. The pair discussed an MMA tournament that had promised them a life-changing purse. Unfortunately, the event never took place.

The tournament would have included both Hall and Shaw, along with other famous big men in the fitness world, like world-renowned strongman Mitchell Cooper and towering bodybuilder and actor Martyn Ford.

All four men are friends and were hoping for a massive payday that could have changed their lives. Unfortunately, nothing came of the tournament.

"We got offered an MMA fight. All four of us, me, you, Mitchell Hooper, and Martyn Ford, to fight each other. And the money was... it was life-changing. We're given contracts and there was no reason to think this was a hoax or a scam or anything. It seemed really legit. So, me and you dedicated six months of our lives to that purpose, and that came to a head in the end of January, start of Feb."

It was an unfortunate situation that Shaw, a four-time World's Strongest Man, corroborated, offering more details about the incident. Hall, meanwhile, offered more insight into how it all led to a brief downward spiral for him.

"I just wasted six months of my life for nothing. You know, turned down hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of work. It's affected your business, it's affected your YouTube. It's just had this massive knock on effect. It probably lost me... we're talking six figures, easy. Well, well in the six figures. Probably closer to seven [figures]."

Check out Eddie Hall's MMA tournament story (11:03 and 11:55):

Fortunately, Hall bounced back and had a recent two-on-one MMA fight, which he won via knockout.

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Eddie Hall has prior combat sports experience

Eddie Hall and Hafthor Júlíus Björnsson have a widely known feud stemming from their World's Strongest Men days. Both men are former winners. In the past, Björnsson called into question Hall's lone World's Strongest Man win, causing enmity.

Moreover, Hall took issue with Björnsson breaking his deadlift world record of 1,102 pounds with a 1,105-pound lift, as he had done so at a gym instead of a meet or event. This, however, was during the COVID-19 pandemic, when such gatherings were barred. To settle their differences, they agreed to box.

Check out Eddie Hall vs. Hafthor Júlíus Björnsson:

After a back-and-forth affair that saw both men score knockdowns, Björnsson won via unanimous decision in 2022.