On October 28, 2023, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia became the center of sport and entertainment as former UFC champion Francis Ngannou squared off against Tyson Fury, the reigning WBC heavyweight champion. The highly anticipated show attracted a constellation of celebrities who sat front row to witness the thrilling showdown.
In a match that ended with a split decision victory for Tyson Fury, the post-fight discussions are still buzzing with controversy, questioning whether it was a deserved win.
The iconic Detroit rapper Eminem sat front and center, sharing his ringside view with boxing legends like Mike Tyson and Vince McMahon, the former CEO of WWE.
But before Eminem went to the match, it seems Slim Shady hit the recording studio with Royce 5’9″, Mr. Porter and Paul Rosenberg, invited by TURKI ALALSHIKH, a Saudi adviser at the Royal Court under the rank of Minister and the current Chairman of General Authority for Entertainment.
Ngannou was making his boxing debut on Saturday, October 28, against The Gypsy King, who retained his belt in 2022 by defeating Derek Chisora. Lucky for Fury, his WBC title was not on the line in this fight.
This was the first time that a world-class boxer came up against an MMA fighter since 2017, when Floyd Mayweather came up against Conor “The Notorious” McGregor.
With such a high stakes fight on the cards, celebrities flocked the Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to perhaps get a taste of the highly-hyped fight.
For some like legendary boxer Mike Tyson, he was there as more than just a spectator as he was the one who trained Ngannou in the build up to the fight.
There was also the presence of past and present UFC fighters including Conor McGregor, Israel Adesanya and Chuck Liddell, while other boxing stars like Oscar De La Hoya, Evander Holyfield and Larry Holmes also graced the arena with their presence.
Football was also well represented as both Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario were in attendance; while CR7’s former teammate Rio Ferdinand was also spotted exchanging niceties with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Of course, Hip-Hop did not miss the chance to see the “Battle Of The Baddest,” as Eminem, Kanye West and Lil Baby were in presence. The Boulevard arena also enjoyed “Lose Yourself” as Slim Shady, Royce 5’9″ and Paul Rosenberg walked in to occupy their seats.
A-list stars from boxing, mixed martial arts, music, football and more were in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou boxing match.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Kanye West, Ronaldo Nazário, Eminem, Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor were just a handful of the celebrities in attendance for the crossover fight. Many of the famous faces in attendance were brought in by the Saudi Arabian government to promote the event.
“Iron” Mike Tyson was also in Riyadh to support Ngannou as one of his cornermen and Eminem was sitting beside him. Below is the recording of the two GOATS’ hilarious conversation.
Eminem: What the hell was that?!
Mike Tyson: Superman punch.
Eminem: Yeah!
Mike Tyson: That’s what they do in UFC.
Eminem: Did You teach him that?
Mike: Not this one but I told him to use it though. [Laughs]
Eminem: Yeah [Laughs]
Check the video below:
La réaction d’Eminem et Mike Tyson sur le Superman Punch de Francis Ngannou 😭
Eminem: Wtf, c’était quoi ça ?
Mike: Superman Punch, ils font ça à l’UFC
Eminem: C’est toi qui lui a appris ?
Mike: Non, mais je lui ai dit de le tenter
Eminem: 😂😂
FRANCIS NGANNOU awkwardly almost blanked Eminem as the Detroit hip-hop legend rocked up in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the MMA great’s mega-fight against the undefeated Tyson Fury.
Eminem’s manager Paul Rosenberg pointed out the real Slim Shady but Ngannou still had to double take. His face expression then quickly changed as the boxer embraced Eminem.
A clip emerged on social media from yesterday’s bash that showed “The Predator” walking past Eminem before his coach, Dewey Cooper, grabbed Ngannou’s attention. He appeared to say in the clip: “Em! That’s Eminem.”
The two megastars then posed together for a snap at the Riyadh bash. You can watch the video below:
British former professional boxer who held unified light-welterweight world championships between 2009 and 2012, including the WBA (later Super) and IBF titles, has arrived in Saudi Arabia to attend a boxing match between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou.
During the pre-fight party last night, Amir Khan met the Detroit legend Eminem and gifted him a WBC watch, which was only given to fighters!
“Guys look, we got the main man here! Eminem in the house! What’s going on brother! I didn’t know you were that much of a boxing fan. Respect brother!” says Amir in the video that he shoot at Eminem’s table. “What’s up man, how you doing? Absolutely I am.” Slim Shady replied.
One of the haters of Amir commented under his Instagram post, saying: “Eminem is worth more than you he don’t need your charity you sell out.” On which he replied: “Bro stfu. He’s a boxing fan and complimented the WBC watch only the fighters got gifted today. So I gave him mine. Move.”
New Zealand’s own Israel Adesanya, who currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the former two-time UFC Middleweight Champion, has arrived in Saudi Arabia to support Francis Ngannou in the fight against Tyson Fury.
In kickboxing, Israel Adesanya is a former Glory Middleweight Championship title challenger. As of 12 September 2023, he is #1 in the UFC middleweight rankings, and as of 24 October 2023, he is #8 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.
On the way to pre-fight night, Adesanya met Detroit legend Eminem. The former UFC champion posted a picture with Slim Shady on Instagram story with the caption: “I identify as Stan in this moment,” while “Lose Yourself” was playing in the background. Then a video of him surfaced online where he says: “Eminem just shook my hand [sniffing the hand].”
Two combat sports titans, WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, are scheduled to clash in the boxing ring on Saturday.
This highly anticipated bout showcases the unrivaled prowess of these two formidable athletes, adding an exceptional element to the ongoing series of “crossover boxing” events.
Fury has never tasted defeat as a professional and has met other massive punches, including three fights with Deontay Wilder in which Wilder scored knockdowns but could not keep Fury on the canvas. Fury also is set to face WBA, WBO and IBF champion Oleksandr Usyk with a targeted date of Dec. 23, which adds a bit of extra intrigue to the Ngannou fight as any injury or cut could set Fury back from his pursuit of becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.
Ngannou defeated Stipe Miocic in March 2021 to win the UFC heavyweight championship. He defended the title with a decision over Ciryl Gane the following January and then parted ways with the UFC amid a bitter round of contract negotiations. One of the sticking points in those negotiations was Ngannou’s desire to take a chance in the boxing ring.
To attend the most anticipated fight of the year, Eminem, Royce 5’9″, Paul Rosenberg and Mr. Porter arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo also checked in. Check out the new video and photos below:
Last month, in collaboration with Audiomack, Eminem announced “The Art of Bars” project and asked upcoming artists to submit their music to get a chance to appear on the playlist, which is curated by Eminem himself: “Speakin of bars… im takin over 4 Audiomack’s art of bars playlist nxt month – hit the link to submit and im adding whoevers got the best bars!” Em wrote on social media and gave the list for 89 songs for the promotion.
Couple of days ago, Eminem announced the songs that made into his top 25 underground songs of the year. First five songs were chosen by Slim Shady alone, the rest 20 were picked up by collectively by Eminem and the stuff of AudioMack.
“the best BARS from #theartofbars @audiomack – check the first 5 of the playlist for my picks” wrote Eminem on social media while sharing the playlist. Check the list below:
1. FORTUNXTE – “Statues”
2. Radamiz – “The Monk’s Ferrari”
3. CANTRELL – “BOONDOCKS”
4. J. Young – “NEW WORLD ORDER”
5. Samad Savage – “GOODNIGHT”
6. ShaqIsDope – “Sunday”
7. Luka Pryce – “Archives”
8. Black Dre – “The Update”
9. Amplified. – “Like This”
10. Airospace – “WHATEVER MAN” ft. Chowerman
11. Dyme – “Antimatter”
12. Slee! – “Bleeding Out”
13. Gezim Camaj – “Letter To Myself”
14. K-Prez – “Bonkers”
15. AGNB Leché – “PATIENCE”
16. Prentice – “Excellence”
17. SSOWLO – “NO INTRO”
18. Kipp Stone – “18 The Hard Way”
19. Smaxklord – “Impeachment”
20. Les – “Five Star Frog Splash”
21. Novet – “Poetry In Motion”
22. ICEY LLC – “Lo Bucket (Freestyle)”
23. imjustdonny – “Thank You”
24. Mike the $eventh – “Adult $wim,” ft. Camo
25. Kid lavon – “Smoovement”
Last month, during a panel discussion called “The Great Debate” at REVOLT WORLD in Atlanta, California rapper Symba caused a stir when he ranked himself above Eminem and suggested that his lyrical content is all style and no substance.
“I respect Eminem on a level as a man. But as a rapper, I feel like I can name five better rappers. Yes I’m better than Eminem. Anybody can rhyme words, what are you saying?” said Symba.
During a recent appearance on Good Luck! with Gino, Symba addressed his comments about Eminem. “I recently said something about Eminem. Dude, I was not prepared.” he said.
Then he continued: “Here is what I learned about ‘click culture.’ Five minutes prior to what they cut, I’m literally giving Eminem the biggest praise in the world. I’m like ‘yo, I respect Eminem on another level.’ Eminem is the one person who didn’t take brand deals because he felt like he was exploiting hip-hop. Do you know how much integrity that takes?! You know the millions of dollars he missed out on to protect this culture?! So, respect that I have for him as a man is on another level. The question was asked to me who is my favorite top 10 rappers. I list my favorite top 10 and someone asks me why isn’t Eminem in there. So, as I’m trying to explain it to Tierra Whack, she asks me, do I think I’m better than Eminem, as an MC, personally, I think there is about five people that’s better than me. To me! And I can be wrong. My opinion is not a fact. In my opinion, I rap better than a lot of people they were naming that were not in my top 10. So, when they brought that up, they literally take that one clip, where I say something, and they cut it up.”
“In my opinion, I’m better than Eminem. That does not mean I’ve done half of the work that Eminem has done. That does not mean I have sold the records that Eminem has sold. That does not mean I’m nowhere near Eminem’s level. That’s rap! That’s how we feel. Going into the studio, if you put a beat on, and if you put Eminem over there and you put me over here, in my mind, I’m going to go crazy. And I’m going to write the craziest s–t. I’m not gonna be intimidated that someone who sold the most records in hip-hop. I’m going to rap! But that does not mean that I don’t respect him as MC. I respect everything he has laid for me to do what I’m doing. They cut the clip up and people literally were like ‘WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! F–K YOU. WE ARE GOING TO KILL YOU!’ and I was like ‘oh, s–t, this is what having a fanbase looks like.’ This is what having a community looks like. And it was the first time I was on the side of the internet that was not a popular opinion and I loved it. Because I told my management and they were like ‘yo, this s–t’s looking crazy.’ I said ‘no, this is beautiful.’ They said ‘what do you mean?’ I said ‘now I have a whole community of people to prove I can rap. I don’t care if they think I’m better than him. I’m going to prove them to the rest of their life I can rap and they’ll listen because they will forever say ‘is this better than Eminem?! Let me hear what this s–t is!’ It’s all about proving the consumer wrong.”
“I never said was a fact that I was better than Eminem. That’s my opinion.” Symba added.
T.I. has recently sat down on B High Atl for an exclusive interview where the Atlanta rapper briefly talked about his collaboration with hip-hop legend, André 3000.
“How did André 3000 collab come about? Man, I really just wanted him to be on there so I waited and paid [laughs].” said T.I.
Then he continued: “André 3000, Eminem and Nipsey Hussle, they give the longest verses that you ever ever ever ever ever get. And when they finish, they come together masterfully.”
Eminem and Tip have previously collaborated on two occasions. First it happened back in 2007, on a song “Touchdown,” from Tip’s “T.I. vs. T.I.P.” album. The song is produced by Eminem and Jeff Bass, the song features the use of electronic keyboard giving a trumpet-like sound. In 2009, Eminem later stated he feels his verse on the song was “horrible.”
Second collaboration happened in 2010, on a song “That’s All She Wrote,” again from T.I.’s album called ‘No Mercy.‘ The song debuted at No. 18 on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts. The solo version of this song by Eminem was also leaked with the additional verse.
Westside Gunn has recently sat down with Math Hoffa on the latest episode of My Expert Opinion where the Griselda rapper talked about how he made a decision to sign a contract between Eminem‘s Shady Records and JAY-Z’s Roc Nation.
“Why signing to Royce 5’9″ didn’t work out?… Royce was cool. That’s my ni–a. Still to this day. But at the same time, no disrespect to Royce, that’s my brother, being a hungry east-side Buffalo ni–a that’s trying to stop selling drugs, I got an opportunity to sign to f–king biggest artist of all time, it’s no-brainer. Because my options were Marshall or Hov. Paul Rosenberg had Shady and he had the management Goliath. So when I started going over there talking to Mike, I was going over there for Goliath. It was not even signing to Shady because I only wanted to be Griselda Records cause I was already me. This is after the FlyGod album.” said Westside Gunn.
Then he continued: “Shady, they had the movies. 8 Mile, Get Rich Or Die Tryin’. I’m thinking already ahead like ‘yo, Griselda story is…Ni–a, if they see this east-side Buffalo, we outta here,’ as long as I can get they can make this movie, it’s over, cause I know the story. I watched their stories but ni–a, I know this story. So, I’m just like, ‘let me finesse…’, like I said, Roc Nation had a the label and management and Paul had label and management. So, I’m like ‘I can sign and want to be managed by one. What the f–k am I thinking?’ I can be the first ni–a that could be signed to JAY-Z and then managed by Paul and Marshall, or I could sign to Marshall and be managed by JAY-Z. So, let me go with this movie route and all this s–t and still be backed by Hov. And that’s how I made my decision. And no disrespect to Royce but that could not happen that way doing that.”
Last month, in collaboration with Audiomack, Eminem announced “The Art of Bars” project and asked upcoming artists to submit their music to get a chance to appear on the playlist, which is curated by Eminem himself: “Speakin of bars… im takin over 4 Audiomack’s art of bars playlist nxt month – hit the link to submit and im adding whoevers got the best bars!” Em wrote on social media.
“We got the GOAT Eminem takin over our Art of Bars playlist next month. Submit your song at the link in our bio – he’ll be picking his favorites to include on the playlist. Tag an artist who needs to be heard.” announced Audiomack on Instagram.
It appears the playlist, described as “Real rap never left,” is already here and it includes some big names as well as lesser known artists. The playlist is composed of songs released in 2022 and 2023. Surprisingly or not, it features two The Game songs. You can check the list and playlist below:
EMINEM – THE ART OF BARS [PLAYLIST]
1. Lil Yachty – “The Secret Recipe,” ft. J. Cole
2. Nick Grant – “This Things Of Ours”
3. Al-Doms – “Til My Heart Stops,” ft. Alessandra Salinas
4. Mick Jenkins – “007”
5. Killer Mike – “MAYNARD VIGNETTE,” ft. T.I, JID, & Jacquees
6. Humble Soles – “Cypher,” ft. Tay Keith, RJAE, Reuben Vincent, Huey V, Tyre & HDBeenDope
7. REASON – “Porch Steps!,” ft. Junii & Dirty Dell
8. Noname – “Balloons,” ft. Jay Electronica & Eryn Allen Kane
9. NAS – “Slow It Down”
10. Smoke DZA & Flying Lotus – “Drug Trade,” ft. Black Thought
11. Humble Soles – “Wild West,” ft. Tyre Hakim, Huey V & Shawn Smith
12. Humble Soles – “Outsiders,” ft. Reuben Vincent, Guapdad 4000 & RJAE
13. Dave East – “DAMN”
14. Juice WRLD & Cordae – “Doomsday”
15. Ez Mil – “Realest,” ft. Eminem
16. Earl Sweatshirt & The Alchemist – “The Caliphate,” ft. Vince Staples
17. Mike Dimes – “ARSENAL (I SMELL B–CH),” ft. Denzel Curry
18. Killer Mike – “Scientists & Engineers,” ft. Future, Andre 3000 & Eryn Allen Kane
19. Mick Jenkins – “Smoke Break-Dance,” ft. JID
20. Ohana Bam – “Hollywood”
21. ARDN – “ARE U KIDDING,” ft. femdot.
22. Conway the Machine – “Flesh Of My Flesh”
23. Kai Ca$h – “Rather Be.”
24. Aaron May – “STILL HUMBLE”
25. Russ – “Easy”
26. KOTA the Friend & STATIK SELEKTAH – “HIGH NOON”
27. Joyner Lucas – “Broski”
28. NAS & Hit-Boy – “The Tide”
29. That Guy Veezy – “Deal With It”
30. ICECOLDBISHOP – “I CAN’T SWEEM”
31. Lloyd Banks – “101 Razors,” ft. Method Man
32. Lil Wayne – “Kant Nobody,” ft. DMX
33. Swizz Beatz – “Take ‘Em Out,” ft. Jadakiss, Benny The Butcher & Scar Lip
34. Conway the Machine – “Quarters”
35. Mike Dimes – “KISS N’ TELL,” ft. Dro Kenji
36. Kenny Mason – “Dracula”
37. Slum Village, Larry June & The Dramatics – “Just Like You”
38. Curren$y & Jermaine Dupri – “SoSo Jets”
39. Saba & No I.D. – “Back In Office”
40. Belly – “American Nightmare”
41. femdot. & Sango – “Pelle Pelle”
42. Cordae – “Two Tens,” ft. Anderson .Paak
43. LUKE BAR$ & DUPE – “I FEEL LIKE AALIYAH”
44. 6LACK – “preach”
45. Godfather of Harlem – “DAMN” ft. Dave East
46. NAS – “One Mic , One Gun,” ft. 21 Savage
47. Boldy James & Evidence – “Drop An Album”
48. Radamiz – “Big Pharma,” ft. Dom McLennon & Wiki
49. Westside Gunn – “Shootouts In Soho,” ft. A$AP Rocky & Stove God Cooks
50. Mavi – “Chinese Finger Trap”
51. Ab-Soul – “Gang’Nem,” ft. Fre$H
52. Amir Ali – “5 1 7 9 (2022 Version)”
53. Conway the Machine – “The Chosen,” ft. Jae Skeese
54. G Herbo – “4 Minutes of Hell, Pt. 6”
55. Freddie Gibbs – “Decoded,” ft. Scarface
56. Denzel Curry – “Larger Than Life”
57. Armani Caesar – “PAULA DEEN,” ft. Westside Gunn
58. EST Gee – “The Realest,” ft. Jeezy
59. DJ Khaled – “GOD DID,” ft. Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend, Fridayy
60. KUR – “Hermes Blanket”
61. JID & Kenny Mason – “Just In Time,” ft. Lil Wayne
62. Joey Bada$$ – “Let It Breathe”
63. DJ Khaled – “JADAKISS INTERLUDE ,” ft. Jadakiss
64. Symba – “Never End Up Broke Pt. 2,” ft. Pusha T
65. Amir Ali – “Sorry Not Sorry”
66. Cordae – “So With That”
67. REASON – “Impalas & Hydraulics,” ft. The Game
68. Blvck Svm – “stonefooted”
69. Jharrel Jerome – “Someone I’m Not”
70. Radamiz – “SOMEGUYDEZ FREESTYLE”
71. Doechii & Rico Nasty – “Swamp B–ches”
72. Joey Bada$$ – “Make Me Feel”
73. Lloyd Banks & Conway The Machine – “Menace”
74. The Game & Hit-Boy – “Violence”
75. Chance the Rapper ft. Joey Bada$$ – “The Highs & The Lows”
76. Mavi – “Baking Soda”
77. REASON – “Is What It Is,” ft. Jay Rock
78. Mike Dimes – “HOME (Remix),” ft. JID
79. Kendrick Lamar – “Worldwide Steppers”
80. JID – “29 (Freestyle)”
81. KUR – “Seasons”
82. Chance the Rapper, VIC MENSA & Smoko Ono – “Wraith”
83. DJ Premier – “The Root of All,” ft. Slick Rick & Lil Wayne
84. Pusha T, JAY-Z, Pharrell Williams – “Neck & Wrist”
85. Al-Doms – “APPARENT”
86. ScHoolboy Q – “Soccer Dad”
87. Boldy James & Real Bad Man – “Open Door,” ft. Rome Streetz & Stove God Cooks
88. Danger Mouse & Black Thought – “No Gold Teeth”
89. Vince Staples – “When Sparks Fly”
