Jake Paul’s loss will be Vitor Belfort’s gain as the former UFC champion will face Hasim Rahman Jr. in a boxing match scheduled on Oct. 15 in Sheffield, England.
The fight news was announced as part of the KSI card on Saturday.
The show will be titled DAZN X Series 002 with Belfort vs. Rahman Jr. serving as one half of a double main event with the second fight to be announced at a later date.
“It’s going to be a great show and I’m looking to put on a hell of a performance,” Rahman Jr. said on the broadcast. “My main goal when I put on a pair of gloves was to become a world champion like my father was so nothing is ever going to deter me from that. If this going to catapult me to be able to make the bigger fights at the end of the day, then I’ll go ahead and that route.”
Rahman Jr. steps into the contest after he was scheduled to clash with Jake Paul in August following Tommy Fury dropping off the card when he couldn’t secure a visa to enter the United States
Unfortunately, Rahman Jr. was unable to make the contracted weight for the fight, which led to Paul and his partners at Showtime scrapping the entire event that also featured Amanda Serrano on the card.
Rahman Jr. currently boasts a 12-1 professional record but he’s coming off his first loss after he was knocked out by Kenzie Morrison, who is the son of former heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Morrison.
As for Belfort, the 45-year-old Brazilian will compete in boxing for the first time since he made quick work of heavyweight legend Evander Holyfield in an exhibition bout held in September 2021. Belfort was originally scheduled to face Oscar De La Hoya in his return from the retirement but the bout was scrapped after “The Golden Boy” contracted COVID-19.
Belfort then tore through Holyfield with a first round knockout, although the win didn’t end up on his professional resume because the fight was contest as an exhibition.
Now Belfort will look to build on the success he found in that fight when he faces Rahman Jr. in England as part of the card that will air on DAZN in October.
