'Dad' And AB 'Starkilla' Ayad Are Prepared For A 'Bloodbath' Of A Fight At 'Creator Clash 2'

Last year, iDubbbz and Anisa Jomha's influencer boxing event Creator Clash was held in Florida, selling over 100,000 pay-per-view tickets and becoming one of the most memorable and professional events of its kind to date.

The massive success of the event has opened the doors for Creator Clash 2, a sequel to the insane 2022 event that's set to feature fights between influencers including Froggy Fresh and Chris Raygun, Alanah Pearce and RIP Mika, iDubbbz and Alex Wassabi and, of particular interest to many, the H3 Podcast's AB "Starkilla" Ayad and Dad, an eccentric pop-star character played by YouTube legend Nathan Barnatt.

Both Dad and AB fought in the first iteration of Creator Clash against Cow Chop's Hundar and SuperMega's Matt Watson, respectively. Both fights ended up being highlights of the event for very different reasons. We spoke with both the fighters over Zoom to see how they're feeling leading up to Creator Clash 2.

Dad and Watson opened the event in 2022 with an intense fight that lasted under 30 seconds and resulted in a big win for Dad. The brutal bout saw Dad go absolutely wild on Watson, who was hardly able to throw a fist or defend himself at all as he was pummeled with punches. Dad tells us about the fight:

Dad: "I didn't get touched once and I was very happy, but at the same time, I think anyone could have really done what I did. I know that it's impressive in a way, but also not impressive because, no offense to Matt, but it was nothing. So I'm hoping this year will be a little bit more of a challenge."

The impressively short match might have been the best possible way Creator Clash could have opened, getting the audience notably hyped for what was to come. Every fight after had something to get excited about, whether it was JustaMinx smiling as she went in on her ferocious competitor Yodelling Haley or DJ Welch destroying InternetCommentEtiquette.

Arguably, one of the most technically intriguing fights was AB vs. Hundar, a match that saw both fighters put in a lot of obvious effort and line up some stellar punches, with Hundar ultimately taking the win in round five. Reflecting on the fight, AB tells us:

AB: "[The fight] went a lot better than I expected. Going into it, I was really nervous 'cause it was my first fight, and Hundar was definitely in a lot better shape than I was […] but I did better than I expected. There's a lot of things obviously I could have done better, I could have corrected, but my main takeaway from that fight was I need to work on my stamina."

The matchup between Dad and AB for Creator Clash 2 has inspired a lot of mixed talk and reactions online, with many, even in the H3 Podcast community, worrying for AB's life after the intense walloping that Dad gave Watson. Dad seems to think that level of worry is justified.

Dad: "I've watched [AB's] fight so many times. He's not posting anything from his training this year, so who knows what's going on. But I just really genuinely deep down don't think he can beat me. I just don't. Knowing what I do every day in training and the psychotic levels I'm going to with my training, I guarantee you I'm training harder than everybody in all of YouTube boxing. Maybe not as much as Jake Paul because I do think he trains like a lunatic 'cause he is rich and he can, but I pride myself in pushing myself harder than any person I've ever met in everything I do […] I just don't think it's possible for him to beat me."

Dad is eager to boast his stamina and strength as we talk, alluding to his life as a dancer as a show of that stamina. "I can dance literally for 12 hours, hard," he tells us, "He has not seen the videos of me getting hit by cars as Keith Apicary and like all the crazy stuff I've done with my life and the psychotic endurance I have."

One man in particular who might be worried about AB's health, specifically his pituitary gland, is Joe Rogan, who recently reacted to Dad and Watson's fight on his podcast under the false belief that Watson was Dad's son. Before his producer Jamie can correct him, Rogan appears visibly upset by the ethics of what he believes is a father-son fight and says that Dad is going too hard on Watson, suggesting Watson could have depression if he gets his pituitary gland "fucked up," an idea that's become somewhat of a meme among AB and Dad's fans.

Dad: "People have been uploading [my fight] to Instagram and Twitter and YouTube with the title 'Dad Beats Up Son.' [The Rogan reaction] is a little bit annoying because I don't want people thinking I'm beating up my kid. I don't even have kids. At the same time, I get annoyed because then no one's tagging me. There's literally millions of people watching each of these many uploads of [the fight], getting a bunch of views out of it.

It would've been nice if I got some followers out of it and then on top of it Joe Rogan sees it and he falls for it like all these other people are falling for it. Now that Joe saw it, because he was corrected by his producer, it finally was a little bit worth it to me. I'm now finally getting some recognition."

While the memes don't seem to be in AB's favor, he isn't letting them get in his head. Those same types of memes, suggesting AB might just die in the ring, were no-less rare the first time around after it was revealed he'd be fighting the admittedly threatening-looking Hundar.

AB: "The whole internet told me I was gonna die with Hundar and I'm gonna get knocked out in the first round. Same shit. I'm used to it. This time, I'm not worried. Last time, I was terrified. All the comments really didn't help with my confidence that first time around, but I'm okay this time. They kind of pushed me in a way to prove them wrong.

Some people seem to think AB is at a disadvantage because he lost his fight, while Dad won his fight in such an intense way. But AB is a fighter through and through and while he admits to us that Dad has good stamina and that there was some initial nervousness when learning about his next opponent, he's no less confident that he'll win the match.

AB: "My initial reaction [to finding out I was going to fight Dad] was like, 'Seriously, dude? Like, you guys really hate me, don't you? You don't want me going against a normal opponent, huh?' But re-watching his footage, I was like, 'Well, you know what? There really isn't enough here for me to tell.' [The Watson fight] is not enough footage and to be honest, I wasn't as impressed the closer I looked at it, if I'm being honest. So we'll have to see."

Although both fighters claim they've been training hard for the upcoming fight, Dad seems to have his doubt about AB's regimen, pointing to AB's lack of training footage as evidence.

Dad: "The reason [AB] is not posting any training footage is because he's not training. I watch him, I know his life, I know exactly where he works, how long it takes him to get to work and to get home. I've been there and I know where he lives and I see based on his posts and his activity online, I can literally track his whole day.

I know what days he works. I know he's not training. He goes from work, he works five days a week and then he goes home. He has dinner with his wife sometimes, sometimes they go to a restaurant and they go home or they're eating at home. Then he does a live stream almost every single night. He has not trained yet since Creator Clash. I think he went to the gym a couple of times, took some pictures with his coach. He's not exercising. I'm jogging five miles. One time I did 10 miles. I'm jogging constantly, multiple times a week. I'm training, I'm boxing, I'm going so hard."

Of course, AB isn't ready to accept that kind of talk from Dad. He tells us that his lack of training footage doesn't mean he hasn't been training, just that his coach doesn't allow him to post it. Besides, AB isn't exactly impressed with the footage that Dad has put out.

AB: "Dude, this guy [Dad], every time I see him training, he's at a Planet Fitness hitting a bag that's so light. I've never even hit a bag that light. I shouldn't be saying this stuff, but yeah, some of the footage he's put out, I'm not impressed by his trying to intimidate me and then I just see the bag flying all over the place. I'm like, 'There's not even a bag at my gym that's that light.' I've been training every day, so I ain't worried about it. [Dad] sounds a little bit more nervous than I expected. He wants to see that footage."

Recently, the team behind Creator Clash 2 hosted an open workout stream where the fighters showed off some of the skills they've learned since the first event. AB can be seen training with his coach Wale Omotoso, aka LuckyBoy, a retired professional boxer with 28 wins under his belt that AB calls a "very serious dude."

AB: "[Wale] is teaching me completely differently which is nice, but also it's like I'm starting from zero again, because what I'm learning is completely different than the first time. I'm getting proper guidance and I think that would definitely be my secret to success, if any. However well I do, I owe it all to Wild Card Boxing because they really helped prepare me the first time and they're doing it again."

Dad is also eager to hype up his coach, who he says has made him a "different person" and has really helped encourage his "rage factor."

Dad: "My coach tells me, 'There is a rage factor, like when you get in the ring and you're just crazed, something about that helps. You can be getting punched and it just doesn't matter because you're just there to kill […]' He just got me so worked up and he's saying these things to me and it makes me truly not care if [my opponent] gets really messed up. I don't care. I'm there to box and I want to win.

I think it's that psychotic place I can get to that will ensure I will win against anybody I go against. Unless it's someone who's straight up out of my league, like a Mike Tyson or someone who's way bigger than me that could just knock me out. If we're matched skill-wise and weight-wise, every time I think I will win because I have that rage in me. Unless they have it too, then it'll be a good bloodbath and it'll be awesome if we both just decapitated each other."

After taking a moment to call Dad an "old ass man," AB was willing to share some positive anecdotes about Dad in the name of good sportsmanship.

AB: "For his age, he's in great shape. He's taken care of himself. He's in better shape than I am. He's been in great shape for years, so I will give him that. He doesn't have the body of an old ass man. I think it's 'cause he is slightly insane. I'm not sure. [The fight] is all gonna come down to stamina. That's all it's gonna be."

Dad, on the other hand, isn't so willing to shower AB with praise. While he acknowledges that AB "can take a hit" and that he'll put up a better fight than Matt Watson, he's expecting nothing less than an absolute bloodbath.

Dad: "Hundar is strong and he was hitting him very well while AB kept coming at him, which is great. So that was good of him to show he can keep going through. But he was dead in the first round. His hands were down at his waists in the first round. Me and my coach will go 10 rounds, keeping my hands up the whole time and punching and literally striking the whole time. No breaks, no resting, no backing away.

It's gonna be a bloodbath this year. I'm hoping to bleed this time. I want to. I want pain. I'm craving it. Oh, for sure, that's guaranteed. He'd put up a really good fight against Hundar but if it's anything like that, it'll be over sooner than it was with Hundar if he fights the same way."

Creator Clash 2 takes place on April 15th, 2023 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Pay-per-view and event tickets are on sale now at TheCreatorClash.com.