Chael Sonnen and Ariel Helwani get into ugly screaming match on The MMA Hour over Francis Ngannou’s success

Chael Sonnen and Ariel Helwani got into quite the back-and-forth earlier today during the former UFC veteran's appearance on The MMA Hour as they debated Francis Ngannou's success and what's next for him in combat sports.

Despite their conversation beginning very cordially as Helwani complimented 'The American Gangster' on his improved studio setup, it turned into an ugly screaming match. Chael Sonnen noted that 'The Battle of the Baddest' didn't do well on pay-per-view and mentioned that he believes it will be difficult for 'The Predator' to get another boxing match because of how promoters conduct their business.

He said:

"Francis, win or lose, will go back to MMA. Win or lose, Tyson Fury fights that fat bald guy in the front row on December 23rd, so there wasn't a significance...When you talk about his next fight, that won't be signed by a Bob Arum or Eddie Hearn because they can't, those guys sign a minimum of three fight deals cause if you win, I need to know gotcha down the road."

Ariel Helwani clapped back at Chael Sonnen's claims regarding the idea that promoters will avoid Francis Ngannou because of the fight being a one-off by bringing up Saudi Arabia's willingness to host massive fights. He mentioned that Saudi Arabia has become a major player in combat sports and would have no issues with 'The Predator' competing in another one-off boxing bout, saying:

"You're applying 2010 rules-2000 rules to 2023. These are new rules, these are Saudi Arabia rules. They don't play by the same rules that you're used to...They could do whatever the f**k they want. They just paid and to your point probably lost a lot of money...to put on this event, it was the Super Bowl on steroids and they'll do it again."

It was a spirited discussion that saw Chael Sonnen hurling insults at Ariel Helwani by calling him a 'weasel' and the Canadian firing back by questioning some of his claims. It remains to be seen whether the UFC veteran was working the audience or if he was legitimately upset with Ariel Helwani.

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Ariel Helwani sounds off on Chael Sonnen for insinuating he was only happy due to his vendetta against the UFC

Ariel Helwani and Chael Sonnen had a lengthy argument and saw the Canadian sound off on his longtime friend and former ESPN co-host.

During the aforementioned appearance, The MMA Hour host took offense to the former UFC title challenger for insinuating that he was only happy for Francis Ngannou due to his vendetta against the UFC, saying:

"Don't be a fu**ing coward and dance around this sh*t, say it to my face like a man...Grow a fu**ing pair and I'll say it to you, you have a bias and a vendetta against Francis, you work for ESPN...you're a company man and you don't wanna upset big bad Dana."