Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou reportedly fails to beat worst performing PPV in UFC history in terms of sales
Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou are undoubtedly two of the most popular personalities in combat sports today. While Ngannou is widely known for his time in the UFC, where he reigned as the heavyweight champion, Fury is considered one of the greatest heavyweight boxers ever and holds the WBC heavyweight title.
Ngannou made his highly anticipated boxing debut against 'The Gypsy King' last weekend in Riyadh. While many expected Fury to brush past Ngannou, the Cameroonian shockingly pushed the Englishman to his limits and even scored the fight's lone knockdown in the third round.
The star-studded event put together at the Kingdom Arena made headlines all over social media, and many expected the Fury-Ngannou bout to break pay-per-view records. However, despite their superstardom and incredible professional resumes, the two heavyweight juggernauts failed to attract (PPV) buys.
According to journalist Dave Meltzer, the Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou fight only had 11,500 cable television buys and 56,000 streams on ESPN+ in the USA. With less than 70,000 total buys, this event appears to have performed worse than the worst-performing UFC PPV ever.
A recent tweet by @RanboGG pointed out that the Amanda Nunes vs. Felicia Spencer featherweight title bout at UFC 250, which is the worst-performing UFC PPV with only 85,000 buys, outperformed the Fury-Ngannou event by a sizeable margin.
Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou: 'The Gypsy King' shares his thoughts on a potential rematch
Tyson Fury seems interested in running it back with Francis Ngannou sometime down the line. After their heavyweight showdown in Riyadh last weekend, 'The Gypsy King' weighed in on the fight and revealed that a rematch could be on the cards.
As mentioned, Ngannou unexpectedly gave Fury a hard time in the squared circle and proved a much more formidable opponent for the Englishman than most thought he would be. In the aftermath, the WBC heavyweight champion even claimed Ngannou was one of the toughest opponents he'd faced in a decade.
In a post-fight interview with TNT Sports, Tyson Fury stated that he wasn't surprised by Francis Ngannou and predicted a potential rematch in the future. He said:
"No, he was what I thought he would be. I thought he would have a puncher’s chance like the rest of them... Listen, he was a good fighter, and we’ll probably have a rematch down the line somewhere. Who’d have thought it?”
Meanwhile, Fury is expected to face Oleksandr Usyk in an undisputed heavyweight clash. It's expected to go down early next year in Riyadh.