‘The Battle of the Baddest’ was the name of the clash between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou on 28 October 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The bout was Ngannou’s debut in the realm of boxing after leaving the UFC train. Fury clinched the victory in the battle, however, what stunned everyone was the fact that Ngannou took ‘Gypsy King’ in a spiral to knock him down multiple times. The conclusion of the match was undecided to the very last minute. Approximately, a year after the hubbub, Joe Rogan has come forward with a controversial statement.

“It just seemed like the fix was in a little bit,” said Joe Rogan in a conversation on ‘JRE’. His comments spread around the fight community like wildfire and the entire community is talking about the mishap, an UFC veteran has come forward in support of the podcaster. Let us get into this.

Francis Ngannou vs.Tyson Fury match results came under fire once again

Their fight was mayhem, with Ngannou and Fury ready to throw everything that they had, but even they never expected that their fight would be such a marvelous event. The 10-round boxing match ended with Fury clinching the victory by way of a split decision. The entire fight community stood divided over the official results as according to some fans, it was Ngannou who should have won the match, and among them was Joe Rogan.

Months after their clash, Joe Rogan has confessed his original feelings about the incident, reigniting the debate once again. Amid the hubbub, Chael Sonnen has come forward in support of his friend for his statement. Analysing Rogan’s comments on his YouTube handle, Sonnen said, “So, if you’re Francis and you look at the pieces and you know you’re walking into that environment, much like Fury should have had a counter for the Ukrainian that he thinks is going to affect the judges, he knew that ahead of time. He didn’t think of it in the last 30 minutes while he’s getting his face beat in. He should have countered an attack ahead of time.”

He further added, “Francis should have had an opponent. Francis could have had a storyline. Francis should have had Fury next after what he did in getting a split decision. He didn’t know what time it was before he went in there, he didn’t know what time it was during, he didn’t know what time it is after.”

Sonnen emphasized that there’s some fixing involved in the match for the promotion to make Olekander Usyk vs.Tyson Fury match a possibility, “So, was the fix in? Sure. Did the promoter relay his wishes to the judges, which they all deny happen? Yes, they did it in front of everybody.” Well, Sonnen wholeheartedly supported Rogan in his take but what did he actually say? Let’s find out.

Joe Rogan found controversy once again

Francis Ngannou came on strong against Tyson Fury in their clash. As the final round unfolded, the entire fighting community was on the edge of their seats, eager to see the victor. However͏, when the bel͏l͏ ra͏ng and the winner were announced, confusion ͏spread across some faces as Fury was declared the victor. Well, Joe Rogan at that time made statements that it should have been Ngannou who clinched the victory.

Months have passed since then and Rogan has again brought forward the topic, “I thought he (Francis Ngannou) won that fight. But, you know, they were setting up that (Oleksandr) Usyk fight. They were not going to let,” said Rogan on JRE. He further added, “It was close enough that they could pull it off and you go, ‘Okay maybe, maybe you can see (Fury) winning that,’ but I don’t think so, I thought Francis won it, a lot of people thought Francis won it.”

What’s your take on the entire fiasco? Do you believe that there was some match-fixing? State your thoughts in the comments below.