"The biggest lie I've lived through" - Chael Sonnen discloses hidden truth about iconic fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor
Former UFC fighter-turned-analyst Chael Sonnen revealed a shocking truth about the much-celebrated crossover boxing bout between UFC double champ Conor McGregor and unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather in 2017.
Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor was billed as The Biggest Fight in Combat Sports History and the two fighters met at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada. It was also marketed as a huge commercial success with both fighters cashing out massive paycheques. The live gate for the event was $55 million according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
However, despite the promoters' claims, Chael Sonnen alleged that he was in attendance at the event and saw multiple empty seats. Sonnen also added that he was told to lie about the event being sold out.
“The biggest lie that I lived through. I hear the term fake news in 2016, I didn’t believe that that was true. I thought that was just something you say. I lived through Mayweather [vs.] McGregor, where I stood on the floor of the arena and was instructed to tell the world it was sold out and I could look and there was thousands of empty seats."
Check out his comments below:
Ariel Helwani hits back at Chael Sonnen for Francis Ngannou criticism
Combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani criticized Chael Sonnen for his criticism of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
Ngannou left the UFC earlier in the year and found commercial and moral success in his crossover bout against Tyson Fury. Helwani accused Sonnen of mincing his words to pander to the UFC and Dana White.
"Don't be a fu**ing coward and dance around this sh*t, say it to my face like a man...Grow a fu**ing pair and I'll say it to you, you have a bias and a vendetta against Francis, you work for ESPN...you're a company man and you don't wanna upset big bad Dana."
Check out his comments below:
Helwani also spoke about Saudi Arabia and their organizing power in sports.
"You're applying 2010 rules-2000 rules to 2023. These are new rules, these are Saudi Arabia rules. They don't play by the same rules that you're used to...They could do whatever the f**k they want. They just paid and to your point probably lost a lot of money...to put on this event, it was the Super Bowl on steroids and they'll do it again."
Check out his comments below: