Behind the Ropes: Netflix releases insider's view of Riyadh Season's Battle of the Baddest

Although a highly publicised event in the Kingdom, the fact a new fly-on-the-wall Netflix documentary following the lead-up to the Battle of the Baddest was underway, was kept securely under wraps until its official release on Netflix on February 29.

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Battle of the Baddest took place as arguably the inaugural event of the Riyadh Season 2023/24 edition, setting the scene for what was (and still continues to be) the most successful Riyadh Season to date.

October 28 saw the official start of Riyadh Season with British giant, Tyson Fury, a legendary and undefeated heavy-weight champion of the world take on French-Cameroonian great, Francis Ngannou, a mixed martial arts expert, as they faced off in an epic WBC ruled showdown. The athletes arrived into Riyadh on October 25, just in time to see the brand new championship belt in person, ahead of the title fight.

A ‘We Go Again’ production, directed by Tom Day, this new Netflix project offers a chance to relive the highlights while delving into the athletes' mindset leading up to the bout in this captivating hour-long documentary.

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Giving the viewer a behind-the-scenes look at the preparation of both sportsmen ahead of the head-to-head bout, the documentary aptly entitled Battle of the Baddest also follows the strategic reality of modern-day boxing and combat spots, whilst not shying away from showing the true physical impact the sport has on these professional athletes.

Opened by Turki Alalsheikh, Chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority (GEA), the title fight unfolded in front of an audience of 26,000 spectators - including international celebrities such as Conor Mc Gregor, Cristiano Ronaldo, Eminem and Kanye West - and took place in the specially erected Kingdom Arena, while the under-card fights were held in the nearby Boulevard Hall, accommodating additional onlookers.

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Legends of the boxing and wrestling industries Mike Tyson, WWE Chief Vince McMahon and Bob Arum also made appearances during the inaugural Riyadh Season event.

The world-class opening ceremony was witnessed by a global audience as the event was streamed live around the world. To keep the audience entertained ahead of the anticipated boxing bout, and to add an additional layer of excitement to the event, the audience in attendance were treated to massive, live performances from talented music artists Becky G and the iconic rapper, Lil Baby.

Another interesting insight the documentary shows is that Mike Tyson joined Ngannou's training team ahead of the Battle of the Baddest, in order to prepare the trained MMA and UFC fighter for his fist WBC boxing showdown against one of the world's greatest. Tyson hosted Ngannou in his brand-new, Riyadh based training facilities, the Mike Tyson Academy.

The anticipated showdown lasted the entire ten rounds, but who was declared the winner? We don't want to ruin too much for you...

Following Francis Ngannou's impressive performance against Fury, he secured another high-stakes bout against former two-time world champion Anthony Joshua. The showdown is set to take place in Saudi Arabia on March 8th.

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