Paulie Malignaggi thinks MMA fans are 'not that intelligent' (Video)
Former two-division champion turned commentator Paulie Malignaggi had some choice words about the MMA community after the Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou fight.
Paulie Malignaggi is no stranger to making controversial comments, and on Monday morning, via a ProBoxTV podcast episode with Shawn Porter and Chris Algieri, Malignaggi addressed the MMA community.
“Let's face it, MMA fans are younger, so they’re mostly on the internet, and they’re the ones riding this. So again, you know how I feel about the MMA community; they’re not that intelligent. They’re rowdy fans. They’re very exciting fans. They’re very rowdy fans."
These comments are fresh from what many in the MMA community deemed a robbery when Francis Nagnnou lost to Tyson Fury by way of a split decision. The fight was close, and Fury looked like a shell of the fighter he was in the trilogy against Deontay Wilder. That is not to discredit Ngannou, who looked great for a fighter lacing up the boxing gloves for the first time in a professional fight. After the decision, MMA Twitter went on fire as former and current fighters felt that Ngannou should’ve had his hand raised in victory.
Paulie Malignaggi has some choice words for the MMA community
PAULIE MALIGNAGGI ON MMA FANS 😳
— ProBox TV (@ProBox_TV) October 31, 2023
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In reaction to the outrage, Malignaggi took the opportunity to give some verbal jabs as he didn’t see the merit behind the outrage. Malignaggi has had a history with the MMA community as he was famously flown in for a sparring session with Conor McGregor in preparation for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight in 2017. McGregor’s team leaked sparring session footage showing Malignaggi being dropped by McGregor. Although Malignaggi felt that the clip only showed part of the story, it went viral, and so began the tension between the MMA community and himself.
With the latest comments, MMA Twitter will likely take offense and again begin the back and forth between Malignaggi and the MMA community. Was the fight considered a robbery? It wasn’t as the CompuBox numbers, which only tell part of the story, reflect that the numbers were close to even, and the fight would have to be one-sided for it to be considered a robbery. Saturday’s fight has once again sparked the Boxing vs. MMA rivalry, which may lead to more of these types of events in the future.
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