AUSTIN, TEXAS: Fans of combat sports have witnessed fighters switching sports, frequently for financial advantage.
Saudi Arabia revealed its plans to invest in Francis Ngannou vs Tyson Fury for the Riyadh Championship belt, a move that UFC commentator, Joe Rogan has praised.
Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury are set to face off in a highly anticipated boxing match, with the fighters expected to earn substantial sums of money.
Even Rogan couldn't resist mentioning the enormous financial support that such boxing matches enjoyed.
Joe Rogan stunned by Saudi Arabia’s investment in combat sports
Young Jamie, Rogan's podcasts' producer, showed a picture of the Riyadh championship belt for Fury vs Ngannou, prompting Rogan to say, “There it is, the Riyadh championship belt. The Saudi Arabian championship belt."
He continued, "Well, good for them. But hey bro, what they’re doing out there is wild. They’re throwing out wild amounts of money.”
The UFC is also somewhat troubled by the Saudis' "wild amounts of money" because Dana White and the company saw the stock price of Endeavor plummet by an absurd $800 million.
All of this occurred after a Public Investment Fund with headquarters in Saudi Arabia paid $100 million to acquire some holdings in the renowned MMA organization PFL, according to Essesntially Sports.
The PFL has significantly hurt the UFC twice already this year. The most recent instance was in this match.
The first was when they were able to sign Jake Paul, one of Dana White's toughest contemporary critics, after signing their estranged former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
Joe Rogan suggested Saudi investors to buy global boxing bodies
The 56-year-old asked the Saudi financiers to “spend like a billion dollars and buy them all [the different global bodies of boxing].”
After that, Rogan said, “You buy the WBC, you buy the WBO, you buy the IBF, we’re done."
He also explained how it would make things better. “Now everybody STFU. There are no more world champions. If they’re listening right now, gentlemen please, I’ll tweet about it. I’ll support this 100 per cent,” the UFC commentator stated.
It makes perfect sense that with only one world champion, the sport of boxing would become more centralized, and the legitimacy of world champions would rise.
