Eddie Hall is already in negotiations for another big mixed martial arts fight, and it's literally a big one.
On Friday, “The Beast” lived up to his nickname at the World Freak Fight League event in Blackburn, brutally knocking out two men in a bizarre two-on-one handicap MMA match.
A few days later, he revealed that his next opponent could be Mariusz Pudzanowski, a five-time World's Strongest Man champion and veteran of 27 mixed martial arts fights.
Hall captioned a photo of the two of them, starting by asking who's ready.
“Discussions are ongoing, but to be honest, I'm on the fence. But that's totally fine. Marius is strong and has over 15 years of experience in mixed martial arts competition. But I'm going to be involved.”
“One thing is for sure, I will be coming out with a pair of biceps and fully prepared for a bloody fight.
“Training begins next week. The highest bidder may proceed.”
In the 2000s, Pudzianovski won the title of “World's Strongest Man” in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008, as well as silver medals in 2006 and 2009.
At the end of the decade, the Polish strongman turned to mixed martial arts and jumped right into the deep end, taking on MMA icon Bob Sapp, boxing legend Butterbean and former UFC champion Tim Sylvia in his first seven bouts.
The 47-year-old has suffered handily defeats in his last two bouts, including shock upset losses to Artur Szpilka, a former opponent of Deontay Wilder and Dereck Chisora.
But before that he had an incredible five-fight winning streak, defeating every opponent by knockout, four of them in the first round.
The 17-9 (1 NC) fighter will almost certainly be the favorite to win against Hall, who, despite his recent wins, is still a novice in the sport of mixed martial arts.
After winning the World's Strongest Man competition in 2017, Hall decided to follow Pudzianovskiy into mixed martial arts.
In his prime, Hall weighed over 197 kg, but lost about 50 kg in preparation for the fight.
He overhauled his diet and training plan to prepare his body for the rigors of the ring.
Hall previously spoke about his weight loss: “Cardio training for larger men is unique and requires adaptations to keep you from losing muscle and getting fatigued.”
“Not only do we improve your cardiovascular system, but we use methods that help your body recover after weight training by moving lactic acid and helping repair tendons, ligaments and muscles.”
First, he fought in boxing, losing to fellow strongman Thor Bjornsson in March 2022.
Mitchell Hopper, the current World's Strongest Man, was supposed to be Hall's first MMA opponent, but their fight fell through before Hall agreed to face the Neferti brothers.
The TikTok stars were both novices and much smaller than Hall, so a fight with Pudzianovskiy would likely see Hall step up his game.
