Michael Jordan vs Muhammad Ali



Michael Jordan vs Muhammad Ali is the thirty-eighth installment of Epic Rap Battles of History and the fifth episode of Season 3. It features five-time NBA MVP, Michael Jordan, rapping against world heavyweight boxing champion and civil rights leader, Muhammad Ali. It was released on December 3rd, 2013.

Cast
Keegan-Michael Key as Michael Jordan

Jordan Peele as Muhammad Ali

Michael Jordan:
Why don't you dodge this battle like you did Vietnam?

'Cause you've got as much chance of beating me as LeBron!

I'm a flying machine, like the world has never seen!

You can fight one man? I can drive through a whole team!

I choke a dope with his own jump rope!

You'll get smoked when I flow, you Kentucky fried joke!

Used to float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,

Now you double dribble balls that nobody can see!

Muhammad Ali:
(Ooh!) Here comes Jordan, big tongue wobbling,

Flying through the air like a big dumb goblin!

You're the only Bull that's uglier than Rodman!

Messing with me is gambling: you got a problem!

Your whole basketball career turned whack

When you came back a Wizard like Gandalf the Black!

You should've kept your ugly sneakers packed up on a shelf.

Stick to golf: you can keep the ball to yourself!

(Ooh!) I'm so pretty; my hands are so fast!

I'll whup your face back to your Hitler mustache!

Now your daddy got killed and I feel for your family,

But your baseball career: now that was a tragedy!

Michael Jordan:
Man, you make me sick, but I'm better with the flu!

You should let the Fresh Prince do your rapping for you! (Swish!)

I would pass the mic to Pippen, but I'm not done scoring!

Stay all up in your grill like my name was George Foreman!

Muhammad Ali:
I saw you slapping Reggie Miller. Boy, what's wrong with you?

You fight like the little girls who make your Nike shoes!

McDonald's and underpants as corporate backers,

You stay at the Ritz 'cause you sold out to crackers!

Michael Jordan:
So Cassius wants to talk about cashing checks.

I'll school you through your bug spray,

Off your Broadway play, over the Japanese dude sittin' on your face!

Hit nothing but net! You ain't seen nothing yet!

Man, you needed a movement 'cause you're so full of shit!

I'm a better athlete and a better MC!

Battle me two more times, watch me get a three-peat!

Muhammad Ali:
Beep beep! Why don't you back up that trash?

I'll leave you like Liston: flat on your ass!

You need to bounce back to North Carolina, kid,

'Cause your rapping sucks more than Space Jam did!

General

 * This is the second battle to feature famous athletes, the first one being Babe Ruth vs Lance Armstrong.
 * This is the fifth battle overall in which both rappers are living.
 * However, this may be counted as the fourth overall, as Kim Jong-il and "Macho Man" Randy Savage passed away after their battle was released.
 * Although average in length, this is the first battle since Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney where each rapper takes more than two turns, making it the fourth battle in which this occurs.
 * It is also the shortest of the four.
 * This is the sixth battle where a rapper crosses the "line" in the middle of the battle, which separates both rappers from each other, the other battles being John Lennon vs Bill O'Reilly, Darth Vader vs Hitler 1, 2, and 3, and Gandhi vs Martin Luther King Jr.
 * This happened in both battles featuring Key & Peele.

Continuity

 * This is the sixth time a previous rapper was mentioned in a battle, as Ali references Gandalf and Adolf Hitler.
 * It is also the first in which a rapper mentions two previous rappers.
 * The sky outside of the window on Muhammad Ali's side is the same sky used in the background for Martin Luther King, Jr.
 * Both characters are played by Jordan Peele. The fact the skies are the same is an inside joke.

Production

 * This is the first battle where Nice Peter and EpicLLOYD didn't appear or voice any character, excluding the announcer.
 * This is the first battle where Lloyd didn't appear at all, and there are also no physical cameos.In.png
 * However, a small picture of Peter as the Cat in the Hat spoofing the NBA Logo appears in Jordan's background (see right).
 * This episode released one day later than originally scheduled due to technical difficulties.
 * It is the seventh battle to date in which guest actors have been called back to play other roles.
 * The other actors to be called back more than once are Zach Sherwin, George Watsky,and Dante Cimadamore.

Errors

 * On Michael Jordan's title card, his basketball vanishes after he throws it through the hoop.