‘7.6 Million and More!: Using Conor McGregor and His Star Power Records, Chael Sonnen Blasts Ariel Helwani’s ’MMA in Recession’ Claim

Former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen has once more gone scorched earth on mixed martial arts reporter Ariel Helwani, amid claims the sport is in a period of negative growth.

Earlier yesterday, in a conversation with boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, Helwani had claimed that the sport was in a really tough spot. Claiming that there was simply no alternative to the UFC, at least not in North America, Helwani pointed out that the Dana White-led promotion doesn’t even have a main event for the Super Bowl-esque PPV at the end of June.

“MMA is in recession. Jon Jones isn’t signing up for the Aspinall fight…They don’t now what they are going to do with Ilia Topuria, who is their other big star… Conor McGregor has shown no interest in coming back- It’s not a great time“, Helwani noted.

The scribe also claimed that while the lack of superstars was cyclical, the UFC was also hosting a lot of top-heavy PPVs with one or two big fights on each card-something Dana White had accused boxing of doing back in the day. But as far as Sonnen is concerned, Helwani’s claims are very wide of the mark.

“I retired just before (Conor) McGregor became McGregor,” Sonnen said on his YouTube, “McGregor and I fought on the same card once. I main-evented everything. Now, I only say this because I had every record there was — all of them. The live gate was 7.6 million“, the analyst noted.

The card Sonnen is reflecting on was UFC Fight Night Boston, in which he submitted Shogun Rua in 2013. On the prelims, McGregor would record a hard-fought decision win over Max Holloway.

Further responding to Helwani’s claims about how the UFC has become a victim of its own hubris, Sonnen claimed, “They’re now doing 2.2 and 2.3 million on a Saturday show that, two years ago, would have been done with no gate at the Apex.”

“For Ariel to say that’s a recession — the exact same Saturday, the ESPN cards, the non-pay-per-view cards that used to be done with no gate at the Apex, are now drawing, each Saturday, between 1.8 and 2.3 million dollars,” Sonnen vigorously refuted.

Despite Sonnen’s outburst, Helwanis’ criticism of MMA and the state of UFC has solid ground to stand. Earlier this year, after UFC 313, reports claimed that UFC’s broadcasting partner, ESPN, had been miffed with the promotion due to a lack of PPV buys.

The UFC is currently on the lookout for a new broadcasting partner, amid rumors that a streaming deal with Netflix will come to fruition soon.

Needless to say, neither Sonnen nor Helwani is going to be convinced by the other’s opinions on the state of the promotion. It should not be surprising though since the pair have butted heads before as well.

Sonnen blasts Helwani over Ngannou fight purse claims

Off the back of ex-UFC star Francis Ngannou’s boxing fight with Tyson Fury in 2023, Sonnen and Helwani infamously argued at great length about the Cameroonian’s post-fight prize.

Having claimed the current PFL kingpin netted between $10-$20 million to fight the British veteran, Helwani came under fire from Sonnen, who labelled him a “liar”.

“It was not a great night of business”, Sonnen retorted. “You just lied… Stop! Stop! There’s nobody, including a terrible dirt sheet, that has said $10-20 million. It’s a 100% gap“, he argued.

Having listened to Sonnen’s side of the argument, Helwani responded by asking him how he knew that the PPV had bombed, catching Sonnen at a loss for words.

The two have since rekindled and squashed their beef. However, with Sonnen, it’s always only a matter of time.