Kanye West and Eminem made rare appearances at the UFC heavyweight championship figҺt in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, alongside other celebrities like Lil Baby and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Before the event began, American rappers and personalities made grand entrances, which were captured by cameras, except for Kanye West, who arrived midway through the PPV main card, dressed entirely in black, even down to his socks. It was quite fitting for the Yeezy Billionaire to be in the oil-rich Kingdom, considering that in 2021, his “Donda” Album had topped the iTunes charts in the country. Even his Christian album, “Jesus is King,” reached No. 1, leaving fans wondering how he achieved such success in a predominantly Muslim country.
Meanwhile, the figҺt itself caused a commotion. In the third round, the former UFC heavyweight champion, Ngannou, delivered a powerful blоw that sent the WBC champion, Tyson Fury, to the canvas, marking only the seventh time in his career that Fury had been knocked down. However, Fury managed to go the distance and secured a split decision victory after ten fiercely competitive rounds.
Despite the knockout, the judges’ scorecards favored Fury, with scores of 96-93 and 95-94 in his favor, while Ngannou won by a narrow margin on one card at 95-94.
This victory maintained Fury’s undefeated record and set the stage for a future showdown with Oleksandr Usyk, the WBO, WBA, and IBF heavyweight champion, expected to take place before the end of the year.
Boxing legends Mike Tyson and his former rival Evander Holyfield commented on Instagram, “The true champ of the evening @francisngannou. So proud of how you performed,” along with a picture with him and Ngannou.
The fighters entered the Kingdom Arena at around 1:30 am, with Ngannou accompanied by former UFC champions Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman, while Fury made his entrance with his father John and half-brother Tommy, among others.
Despite not having fought since his unanimous decision victory over Ciryl Gane in January 2022, Ngannou showed less ring rust than Fury, who hadn’t been in action since December of the previous year when he defeated Derek Chisora.
The crucial moment of the figҺt occurred in the third round when Ngannou landed a powerful overhand left, knocking Fury down. Although Fury easily got up, he struggled to regain his composure as Ngannou continued to land punches that defied his relative inexperience in professional boxing.
Fury, seeking rhythm, realized the need to step up his game, but Ngannou more than held his own against his highly regarded opponent, who struggled to land powerful and frequent blows, contrary to pre-figҺt expectations.
Relief swept over the arena as the final bell rang and the scorecards were revealed, with Fury’s arm raised in victory. This outcome all but guarantees a future match between Fury and Usyk in December.