Ariel Helwani claimed the rumored number of pay-per-views sold for Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou was off by several hundred thousand.
On October 28, Ngannou proved most people wrong by knocking down and nearly defeating the WBC heavyweight champion in a ten-round boxing match. Despite losing by split decision, ‘The Predator’ skyrocketed his marketability for future super-fights in boxing and MMA.
The following week, Dave Meltzer reported that Fury vs. Ngannou sold 67,000 pay-per-views, leading to some fans claiming the event was a failure. Yet, Ariel Helwani told a different story during his latest episode of The MMA Hour.
Helwani revealed that 67,000 pay-per-views were sold only in North America and on ESPN+, leaving out the European numbers representing Fury’s popularity and TNT Sports.
The Canadian-American combat sports journalist had this to say about the situation:
“That number that you keep seeing paraded around isn’t the actual entire number. I can’t even believe that I have to sit here and explain this to all of you…It’s ESPN+ and U.S. numbers that was that number is from Dave Meltzer…My sources tell me it’s a little bit above that.”
Ariel Helwani continued by revealing his sources told him that Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou sold over 400,000 pay-per-views:
“I can tell you with great certainty right now, with great certainty, and I’m being extremely conservative when I say this because it’ll likely be higher. With great certainty right now, the number you should be throwin in my face isn’t 67,000, isn’t even 100, the number you should be throwing into my face is 400k. I feel very confident it will be above that.”’
Watch Ariel Helwani discuss the number of PPVs sold for Fury vs. Ngannou below:
Ariel Helwani extends argument by referencing new fight offer Francis Ngannou received from Saudi Arabia
The Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou fight week showcased various luxurious features, including a brand new venue, numerous combat sports legends in attendance, and expensive gifts.
Those previously mentioned factors, combined with the millions of dollars for the headliners’ fight purses, led fans to assume the Saudi Arabian backers lost tons of money and wouldn’t want to work with Ngannou in the future.
With that said, Ariel Helwani discussed the topic on The MMA Hour and had this to say about Saudi Arabian representatives not caring about losing money:
“If your argument is Saudi [Arabia] lost a lot of money, fine. That has nothing to do with Francis, and trust me, they know how much they lost, and they’re well aware that they’re overpaying for all this other stuff. If they think Francis is such a bad guy to do business with, why is Turki [Alalshikh] coming on this show on Monday and saying we have an offer for another fight with him.”
There’s no doubt Francis Ngannou will receive plenty of offers for future boxing matches. Meanwhile, the 37-year-old also signed an exclusive contract with the Professional Fighters League for a return to MMA in 2024.
It’ll be intriguing to see how Ngannou prioritizes his options for what’s next.
Watch the entire episode of Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour below:
