Tag: Saudi Arabia

Mike Tyson Reportedly Paid ‘Very Handsomely’ by Saudis to ‘Act’ as Francis Ngannou’s Trainer

Francis Ngannou Mike TysonMike Tyson’s training of Francis Ngannou ahead of the former UFC heavyweight champion’s professional boxing debut may be nothing…

Francis Ngannou Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson’s training of Francis Ngannou ahead of the former UFC heavyweight champion’s professional boxing debut may be nothing more than a dog and pony show backed by Saudi Arabian promoters.

On Saturday, October 28, Ngannou is scheduled to make his long-awaited return to combat sports when he steps inside the squared circle for a clash with undefeated WBC heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury in Riyadh.

Appearing alongside Ngannou throughout much of his training camp has been legendary pugilist ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson. The former unified heavyweight titleholder was often spotted in video clips working with Ngannou since news of his fight against ‘The Gypsy King’ broke.

Per a report from Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole, Mike Tyson’s has been nothing more than cosmetic, claiming that the once embattled boxer was paid handsomely to simply act as Ngannou’s trainer for promotional purposes.

“The Saudis have paid Mike Tyson to act as Francis Ngannou’s trainer (very, Very, VERY handsomely, I’m told),” Iole wrote on X. “They are flying in celeb boxers, including [Manny] Pacquiao, [Roberto] Duran, [Erik] Morales, ‘Big’ George Foreman, MA Barrera, Joe Calzaghe, Tommy Hearns, Frank Bruno. Floyd Mayweather may go too.

“He hasn’t trained Francis but they figured his presence would bring attention to the event,” he added in a follow-up post. “Dewey Cooper trained him.”

Tyson Fury is Ready to Double Dip into Saudi Arabia’s Deep Pockets

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has gotten heavily involved in multiple sporting ventures. In 2018, World Wrestling Entertainment, which now flies under the same banner as the UFC, signed a 10-year deal with Saudi Arabia’s General Sport Authority to produce events in the Middle Eastern country.

Three years after inking a deal with WWE, A Saudi consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund successfully purchased England’s Newcastle United soccer team for a reported $409 million.

After causing an uproar in the world of professional golf, Saudi Arabia has now set its sights on being a big player in the world of professional boxing. The country will, of course, host Francis Ngannou’s fight with Tyson Fury, but ‘The Gypsy King’ is already planning to make a quick turnaround for a long-awaited title unification clash with Oleksandr Usyk in December. That bout will also reportedly take place in Saudi Arabia, assuming all goes according to plan.

Earlier this year, Tyson Fury’s brother, Tommy Fury, traveled to the country to compete against social media star Jake Paul in the ancient city of Diriyah.

In March 2024, the UFC will make its debut in Saudi Arabia for a Fight Night event held in conjunction with the country’s Riyadh Season festival.

Report – PFL sells minority stake to Saudi Arabia for $100 million, plots Middle East expansion

PFLAfter pumping money into both golf and football, Saudi Arabia is getting into the mixed martial arts business with the PFL. SRJ Sports Investments, a vehicle spawned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has purchased a “minority ownership stake” in the Professional Fighters League per a report from Bloody Elbow. The PFL deal is worth […]

PFL

After pumping money into both golf and football, Saudi Arabia is getting into the mixed martial arts business with the PFL.

SRJ Sports Investments, a vehicle spawned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has purchased a “minority ownership stake” in the Professional Fighters League per a report from Bloody Elbow. The PFL deal is worth an estimated $100 million, but Saudi Arabia’s PIF is also said to be investing in an expansion into the Middle East and North Africa. PFL MENA is slated to debut in the second quarter of 2024 and will lead the way for future expansions, establishing a “Champions League of MMA” by 2026.

The investment couldn’t come at a better time for the PFL as the promotion continues to expand, signing new and undeniably expensive talent i.e. Francis Ngannou, whilst kickstarting its first global expansion in Europe.

“There is no better global investor with industrial-strength capital [than PIF] to help us achieve our global vision,” Donn Davis, PFL co-founder and chairman, said in a phone interview with Sportico’s Kurt Badenhausen. “With this capital, we now have what we need to realize our vision to start the next chapter, become not just No. 2, but the potential co-leader in MMA.”

The PFL is Saudi Arabia’s Latest Investment in the World of Sports

This is just the latest in a series of moves that have put the Saudi government at the forefront of global sports. PIF currently holds an 80% stake in Premier League team Newcastle United and was the driving force behind LIV Golf, a PGA competitor that seemingly split the sport in two until opting to join forces in a merger that is still being worked out.

The Saudi wealth fund has also invested in the WWE, F-1, professional boxing, and is rumored to be chasing an investment of some sort with the National Football League.

“SRJ is shaping a new age of sports in Saudi Arabia and accelerating the growth of the domestic sports economy,” said SRJ chairman Bander Bin Mogren, who has served as PIF’s COO since 2016. “This investment aims to nurture the local and regional talent pool in martial arts. Right now, PFL has the broadest distribution of any MMA league. Most UFC fights are either on pay-per-view or ESPN Plus, so PFL has the broadest distribution; fans can see us all around the world the most easily. And more and more great fighters are willing to come over to the PFL to show their talents.

“So I think what you’ve seen is the product get better and better and better and you’ve seen the fans watch it more and more and more. And I think the expanded distribution is just a way to tell the fighters ‘Come on over to the PFL and show what you can do,’ and to tell the fans ‘Check out this product, it’s super exciting, and probably better than what you’re watching now.”

…”PFL is a global sports league. Those 300 million MMA fans, 80 percent of those are outside the United States. So unlike a lot of the sports leagues that focus on the United States, MMA is truly global. The only three sports that are viewed in 150 countries are soccer, basketball, and MMA. So the PFL is truly building a global league, and the international audience is as important as the U.S. audience” (h/t Awful Announcing).