It was an action-packed evening at the Coca-Cola Arena on Friday.
Social Knockout had social media personalities battle it out in the ring, with many making their sporting debut.
The event marked Emirati influencer Rashed Belhasa’s boxing debut, squaring off against fellow influencer Anas Elshayib for the big finale. Belhasa, 19, who previously told The National that he guarantees “a great show”, won all of his three bouts.
The event, by TK Fight Night in collaboration with Dubai Sports Council, was also YouTube star Adam Saleh’s Middle Eastern boxing debut. Saleh squared off against Walid Sharks, 17, which ended in a draw.
Dubai-based Amir Fotoohi, better known as N & A Productions, and Slim Albaher, also took to the ring with the latter emerging the winner after three rounds.
Some other matches to take place at the event include Kagimu versus Aminov; King Anobis versus Hamza Yamadev; and Mohamed Khalid versus 3Bidaan.
The event started at 7pm and had live entertainment. Indian musician Guru Randhawa, rapper Julius Dubose, professionally known as A Boogie wit da Hoodie, and rapper and singer Joseph Antonio Cartagena, known as Fat Joe, regaled audiences with their performances.
Over the last few years, boxing events between YouTubers have been on the rise, starting from Logan Paul and YouTube star KSI’s famous match in 2018. This year, on July 1, Paul fought Floyd Mayweather in a much-televised exhibition match.
However, Friday night’s event marks the first time such an event took place in the UAE. It was also notably one of the first events in the world to use only cryptocurrency for transactions.
Scroll through the gallery above for pictures from Social Knockout.
