On July 25, 2021, Coresports sent out a press release confirming that the bout between Hafthor Björnsson and Eddie Hall is delayed until sometime in March or April 2022. Hall, who released a video on the same day, says he detached his biceps on Monday, July 19, 2021. Hall underwent surgery and says he injured the biceps while sparring.
According to Coresports, the fight night on Sept. 18, 2021, is still a go. At the time this article was written, it is unclear if Björnsson will fight a new opponent. Though, the press release says it’s a possibility.
You can watch Hall’s YouTube video below, which features footage of him sustaining the injury. Matt Rhodes, from Matt Rhodes Sport on YouTube, was among the first to report on Hall’s injury.
“I’ve had it [the biceps] reattached, which is the good news,” Hall says in the video. “All I did was throw a lazy hook — nothing too crazy, just a lazy hook to set up a backhand — and it just snapped off. It’s probably an underlying issue from strongman, probably half detached it and then the hook was enough to take the rest of it off and it rolled up my arm.”
The Sept. 18, 2021 card, taking place in Las Vegas, NV, is still on. CrossFit Games veterans Jacob Heppner and Josh Bridges are scheduled to fight as are powerlifter Stefi Cohen and pro boxer Avril Mathie. Coresports also announced a Westpoint vs. U.S. Naval Academy bout and teased “a few more exciting fights,” which have yet to be revealed.
Anyone who already pre-ordered the pay-per-view (PPV) is now able to watch the rescheduled Hall vs. Thor bout and the originally scheduled Sept. 18 fight night. Coresports says that anyone who purchased tickets to watch the fight in person will be getting an email from Ticketmaster with options to either see the fight live or apply for a refund.
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Both Hall and Björnsson are winners of the prestigious World’s Strongest Man competition; Hall won the event in 2017 and Björnsson won in 2018. Hall also became the first man to deadlift 500 kilograms in 2016, and then Thor lifted a kilogram more on May 5, 2020.
Shortly after Thor out-lifted Hall’s deadlift, the two announced that they would box each other. Since then, both men have devoted their training to the sport of boxing. They’ve each lost a substantial amount of weight in preparation for the fight and Thor has even participated in not one, but two exhibition matches.
BarBend has reached out to Coresports for more information about Björnsson’s potential replacement and will update this article if and when the information is made available.
Featured image: @eddiehallwsm on Instagram
