Creator Clash 2

Overview

Creator Clash 2 is the name given to the second iteration of the influencer boxing charity event Creator Clash, with iDubbbz once again reprising his role as the organizer and main event. The competition, which took place on April 15th, 2023, at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, featured many returning fighters and influencers from the first Clash, as well as more fights overall with new additions.

Background

On January 24th, 2023, Creator Clash 2 was announced on Twitter^[1] along with the full card of fighters. A video was also posted to the iDubbbz YouTube^[2] channel that day announcing the fighters, garnering over 130,000 views in under a day (shown below).

The full fight card initially included matchups between:

• Dad vs. Starkilla (AB Ayad)
• Myth vs. Hundar
• Mika Midget vs. Alanah Pearce
• Michelle Khare vs. Andrea Botez
• Arin Hanson vs. Jarvis Johnson
• Leonhart vs. Crankgameplays
• Hayley Sharpe vs. Marisha Ray
• Jaelaray vs. Abelina Sabrina
• Froggy Fresh vs. Chris Raygun
• John Randall Hennigan vs. Harley Morenstein
• Jack Manifold vs. Dakota Olave
• Alex Wassabi vs. iDubbbz

Developments / Controversies

Froggy Fresh's Removal From Creator Clash 2

On March 23rd, 2023, YouTuber and rapper Froggy Fresh uploaded a "hype-up clip" to his Twitter^[3] in which he talked about the upcoming fight and how badly he was going to beat his opponent. At the end of the video, he stated that if he didn't do well enough, he would punish himself by subscribing to Anisa Jomha's OnlyFans, the wife of iDubbbz (shown below).

This would eventually lead to his removal from the fight card on March 25th, with a follow-up tweet^[4] detailing that Creator Clash wanted to create an inclusive and fun space for creators and felt that Froggy's recent behavior was not aligned with that. The tweets, which had been viewed over 13 million times combined, had their comment replies turned off shortly after they were tweeted (shown below).

The decision proved to be controversial in the following days as word spread online in late March 2023. For example, YouTuber Moist Cr1tikal quote retweeted the Creator Clash tweet and expressed his disappointment at the removal.^[9] The tweet (shown below) received over 33,800 likes and 1,100 retweets in three days.

Results

The event took place on April 15th, 2023 without any medical emergencies or incidents taking place. The fights were largely well received by the fans, with certain fights receiving extra attention from attendees both in-person and online.

Creator Clash 2 Fight Results:

• Jack Manifold defeated Dakota Olave by judges' unanimous decision
• Jaelaray beat Abelina Sabrina by unanimous decision
• Dad crushed AB Starkilla by TKO at the end of the first round
• William Haynes defeated ChrisRayGun by TKO in the second round
• Alanah Pearce ruled the victor over Mika Midgett by a split decision
• Myth flattened Hundar in the first round with a TKO
• Haley Sharpe won over Marisha Ray via unanimous decision
• Arin Hanson made up for last year with a TKO over Jarvis Johnson
• Michelle Khare awarded a win over Andrea Botez in a unanimous decision
• Ethan "CrankGameplays" unpacked Leonhart with a TKO
• John Hennigan folded Harley Morenstein with a TKO
• Alex Wassabi granted win over iDubbbz by majority judges' decision

Sam Hyde Disruption

Pre-Fight Stalking

On April 13th, 2023, Sam Hyde tweeted^[5] a picture of iDubbbz at the Amalie Arena (the hosting center for Creator Clash 2), saying that he's been following him around while in drag, causing people to worry that Hyde might try to sneak into the event or pull a stunt during the competition (shown below).

Creator Clash Pre-Fight

During the weigh-in on April 14th, 2023, and the event on April 15th, additional security was posted around the hotel and arena, instructed to check attendees and not let people in who were wearing face-covering masks (COVID-19 masks were allowed after being identified), with the Minecraft YouTuber Ranboo and Arin Hanson's wife Suzy attending while in face masks, as seen in the tweet by @Lukewarmsoupyum^[6] on April 15th (shown below).

On April 15th, 2023, it was then tweeted by Twitter user @JetNeptune^[7] that a group of people dressed in orange Morphsuits pretending to be Garfield, with one actual Garfield in attendance, were purportedly banned because one of them could be Sam Hyde in disguise (shown below).

The Garfield pictured appeared to be the same one that went to Creator Clash in 2022, as seen in the tweet by Twitter user @KaijuPineapple on May 14th, 2022^[8] (shown below). However, in that instance, he only had two other friends with him, with the 2023 group being significantly larger and later being allowed into Creator Clash after they pulled down their Morphsuit masks.

Creator Clash Main Event

During the iDubbbz vs. Alex Wassabi fight, a fan in attendance with a floor seat stood up and pulled out a large poster that read "Subscribe to Anisa's Only Fans" as a nod to FroggyFresh. This disruptor was told that he needed to leave the area shortly after, as the floor was supposed to remain free of people standing while the fight was in process. After going up the stairs, the demonstrator waved the banner a few more times before leaving (shown below).

After the end of Creator Clash 2, with everyone being shuffled out to the same exit way, the Garfield group appeared with a demonstration for Sam Hyde, creating a disruption as they began shouting and waving a posterboard scrawled with "Sam Hyde Sign My OJ Shirt" as a reference to O.J. Simpson (who is believed to have gotten away with murder) and led others to believe that the Garfield group was always planning to disrupt the event on behalf of Hyde before being stopped at the gate earlier (shown below).

Financial Struggles

Months after the event in early July 2023, iDubbbz released a video^[10] in which he went over the financial figures from Creator Clash 2, claiming that the event only generated 50,000 pay-per-view subscriptions (down roughly 50 percent from Creator Clash 1) and that he suffered a $250,000 loss — adding that no charities were actually paid out that some of the fighters were sponsored for (shown below).

The announcement quickly spread online and brought on a wave of criticism toward Ian for his management of Creator Clash 2 and the extra expenses incurred. Alongside the backlash, many blamed the Froggy Fresh drama leading up to the event for purportedly being the reason why there was a drastic reduction in sales.

On July 4th, 2023, Twitter user and YouTuber Brandon Buckingham tweeted^[11] a photo of him talking to Twitch streamer Hasanabi at Crti1kal's warehouse after-party, tweeting that the people engaged in the photographed conversation purportedly agreed that costing the charities thousands of dollars was worth excluding Sam Hyde (shown below). The tweet received over 16,400 likes 830 retweets in roughly a day.

On July 4th, 2023, iDubbbz started a 24 hour livestream which he tried to earn money to pay the charities from the event, with different incentives being activated if the donation amounts were met. After the 24 hours was done he tweeted^[12] that the livestream generated over 162,000 dollars in donations (shown below).

Search Interest

External References