Full-time YouTuber and part-time celebrity boxer KSI is finally set to face off against professional troll and occasional fighter Dillon Danis this March. However, the announcement has been met with a collective eye-roll from fight fans, as this is a matchup few weren’t clamoring for. Interestingly, KSI insists that he initially aimed higher, attempting to book a fight with a legitimate name from the combat sports world. Particularly the UFC!

According to the British YouTuber, he reached out to four former UFC stars—Jorge Masvidal, Nate Diaz, Donald Cerrone, and Tony Ferguson—but none of them agreed to step into the ring with him. “Dillon Danis wasn’t 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, we went to Masvidal for a fight, he can’t do it because the UFC like [still has him under contract],” KSI said in a recent video.

However, the YouTuber wasn’t done. He went on to claim that all these guys (except Masvidal, who cannot fight him due to contract issues) were essentially too scared to fight him. Of course, Diaz has already fought Jake Paul, who is much more dangerous as a fighter than KSI, but Brit had an explanation to explain away that inconvenient fact- Paul was just not as good a boxer as him. This is clearly not the case since Paul has fought and defeated much better competition than KSI has even called out.

“All these ex-UFC fighters, no one wants to fight me. People fight Jake Paul because you know what, then they have a chance of beating him. He’s not actually that good. I’m probably going to get into trouble for saying that certain people didn’t want to fight me,” KSI added.

However, this doesn’t seem to be true. At least that is what Jorge Masvidal has claimed in a comment he left on an Instagram post reporting on the YouTuber’s comments. “This 🧢 😂 Idk what it is with you UK mother f**ers but stick to selling that pi* in a bottle because I will beat your f**ing a* @ksi,” Masvidal wrote.

While it may seem like a joke at first glance, KSI would be wise not to take ‘Gamebred’s threats lightly. This is the same guy who beat up one of his closest friends (Colby Covington) over trash talk at a press conference. But assuming KSI did approach all these guys for a fight, why would they refuse to fight him? Well, all of them have good reasons.

Why did Jorge Masvidal, Diaz, Ferguson, and Cerrone refuse to fight KSI?

Let us assume KSI is telling the truth. Even then, it is extremely unlikely, as unlikely as the sun setting in the east that either of those guys were ‘afraid’ to fight KSI. Afraid of what? Fighting a YouTuber and making millions when they literally have fought killers all their lives? No, that doesn’t pass the litmus test. But there are other reasons they may have refused.

Tony Ferguson, whatever his faults, loves fighting. Maybe a bit too much for his own good. And since he signed with the Global Fight League (GFL) right after being let go by the UFC last year. It is likely that ‘El Cucuy’ just wasn’t available to fight because he, like Masvidal, had contractual issues.

On the other hand, Donald Cerrone also loves fighting. Probably more than even Ferguson. After all, ‘Cowboy’ has taken more short-notice UFC fights than KSI has probably watched in his life. And the American veteran is gearing up to make his comeback to the UFC this year, having retired in 2022. It is likely ‘Cowboy’ is too busy preparing for this comeback to fight KSI.

In the case of Diaz, however, things are more complicated. The only reason Diaz had agreed to fight Paul two years ago was to teach ‘The Problem Child’ a lesson for having insulted Conor McGregor’s wife. It is likely that he just doesn’t feel like fighting KSI- he just doesn’t hate him enough. What do you think about KSI’s outrageous claims and Jorge Masvidal’s scathing reply?