Chael Sonnen opened up about his ugly argument with The MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani last week.
Sonnen, who is a regular guest on the program and even hosted an ESPN program with Helwani at one time, abruptly ended the interview after their debate devolved into a full-on shouting match. The topic of conversation was the pay-per-view buys for Francis Ngannou’s pro boxing debut against Tyson Fury last month.
Chael Sonnen says he would strangle Ariel Helwani 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/q3JZGJm93l
— Brandon (@Edwrds21) November 1, 2023
Helwani insisted that Francis Ngannou cleared $10 million for the fight, plus another $10 million based on the success of the pay-per-view sales. Sonnen disputed that statement, suggesting that the event was a failure financially.
“Ariel and I were having a heated debate and within the debate, I made two points,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “We’re discussing Francis vs. Fury. There’s two ways to observe what you saw. The first was from a competitive standpoint and from a competitive standpoint, this greatly exceeded all expectations. Then you have the financial standpoint. From a financial standpoint, it met expectations. It was designed to lose upwards of $100 million, and it did. Those were my only two points. I am factually correct on both.
“But we end up on this argument and when we come out of this argument, it is for you to decide who won and I will tell you from my own supporters, it was 50/50. I was screaming at Ariel and I even told Ariel, ‘I would strangle you’ and when you start yelling in an argument, your words aren’t what the victory or the defeat will be based on. It will be based on you losing control. Who lost control? Who cried? Who screamed? Who used profanity? It’s one of those things.”
He continued, “I didn’t understand why the make-believe $10 million, the back-end money bonus, because pay-per-views did so well. I don’t know where that came from. So it engages a fight going back and forth with us and where things really got off course… And you’ve got to understand, there’s enough blame to go around. Me shouting at Ariel and screaming, I finally had to go. And when you’re on a phone call and somebody hangs up, that is a real baby move, but I was to the point that my throat was horse. I couldn’t talk anymore.”
Sonnen still stands behind his initial statement that the event was less than successful. ‘The American Gangster’ felt vindicated by a recent report from renowned professional wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer who reported through his outlet, Wrestling Observer, that the event sold roughly 56,000 streams via ESPN+ and U.S. cable and satellite providers.
“There was nothing I lied about,” Sonnen added. “As a matter of fact, I corrected it and made it right. 24 hours later, Dave Meltzer confirmed that I was right.”
Helwani has since addressed Meltzer’s report, noting that the number completely ignores international buys through providers like U.K.-based TNT Sports and DAZN.
Chael Sonnen Didn’t Appreciation Ariel Helwani’s ‘Fighting Words’
Regardless of the details, Chael Sonnen was admittedly upset that the altercation happened in the first place. He also didn’t take kindly to Helwani seemingly challenging him to a fight during their shouting match.
“I was really unpleased with the fact that this happened. There was a point where he challenged me,” Sonnen said. “There was a moment when he said words that were extremely provocative, particularly in our culture. ‘Have some balls, say it to my face,’ is what he said to me. In our culture, those are fighting words. Not to mention, I’m the one that just said it to you. I’m as close to your face as I can get which happens to be this camera.
“So when the whole thing ends, I never spoke to you guys about it. I could have come right out and made a piece that would have done exorbitant numbers, but I didn’t like that it happened. I didn’t know what was going on emotionally or in his personal life. I felt like that wasn’t him and people are allowed to have a bad moment. So I never spoke of it.”
“I assumed when I was doing that, he would also not speak about it. That he would not go on and on and capitalize. At the end of the day, I was a guest. I gave up my time. He was paid to be there. There’s a way he has to treat me. That doesn’t happen though. He made numerous pieces about it. I don’t know if that is bad. It won’t change the fact that I love Ariel and it won’t change that if there is something going on with him personally, as his friend I will be there for him, but it did surprise me that the ugliest moment that we have had, we continued to talk about it publicly. And within that, I have never heard an apology.”
Helwani did reveal during a recent episode of his show that he and Chael Sonnen have since spoken and squashed their beef.
Watch the full video below:
