Was KSI and Joe Weller’s Fight FAKE?

Two UK YouTube stars had a giant boxing match that was basically the Super Bowl of YouTube drama.

The pair — who are both affiliated with a YouTube crew called the Sidemen — started their “beef” back in August 2017 when KSI announced he was moving on from the Sidemen. Watch his video below.

The video itself seems like kind of a joke, or maybe like his leaving wasn’t that serious. And, he admitted as much in another video released in November. Watch it below.

In response to KSI, Ethan (aka Behzinga) from the Sidemen made a diss track. This basically led to a ton of mutual dissing from KSI and members of the Sidemen — and a lot of sending views back and forth to each other. Just saying.

Enter Joe Weller. He ultimately got involved by commenting on a KSI diss track in a video called: “Internet Melts: Diss Track edition.” Watch it below.

This eventually escalated to the point where KSI and Joe Weller decide to have a fight that would be broadcasted live on YouTube. And, there were plenty of opportunities in the lead up to the fight for them to go at each other as well, which they did. This went on for months, with diss videos back and forth, giving everyone following the Sidemen something to talk about. So, after five months of buildup, the fight finally happened on February 4. And, just like the WWE, it was quite the show. Watch it below.

Ultimately, it was KSI who prevailed after the referee stopped the fight in the 3rd round.

According to TubeFilter, the stream was watched concurrently by 1.6 million people and over 25 million have watched the fight on YouTube to date. It was a great success by any measure, and may encourage other content creators to engage in “drama” as a way of engaging viewers.

In a Polygon story published before the fight, writer Julia Alexander argued “YouTube’s current system rewards the fabrication of drama on its platform.” She compared it to pro-wrestling. “Fans understand that the drama and fighting is almost entirely fake, but that doesn’t stop them from enjoying it.”

Ultimately, KSI and Joe Weller were both really happy at how successful the fight was. In fact — KSI is already trying to find his next boxing partner. After the match he said: “If any YouTuber wants it, you can come and get it.” And, he called out Jake Paul specifically.

What did Jake Paul have to say? He tweeted: “Who is PSI and why are people tweeting me about him?” This ultimately led to Jake Paul’s dad agreeing to fight KSI if they did it MMA style. Jake and Logan Paul are even offering to pay KSI $50,000 if he goes through with it.

What do you guys think? Is this all just to keep getting views or is everyone legit beefing? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter at @WhatsTrending.