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Saudi Arabia has increasingly been looking to turn themselves into a global power in the sporting world. Not just for big events like the World Cup or a potential future bid for the Olympic games, but the Middle Eastern kingdom has increasingly been a dominant force in the world of combat sports as well. Most recently hosting massive boxing PPV events featuring Tyson Fury, Francis Ngannou, Anthony Joshua, and Deontay Wilder.
In the not too distant future, Riyadh is set to play host to another big boxing event, with former UFC champ Ngannou taking on Joshua in his second ever pro boxing bout. They’re also all set for PFL’s latest PPV offering, a champ vs. champ card featuring the newly acquired Bellator title holders taking on PFL’s latest tournament winners. They were supposed to host a UFC event as well, only something went wrong.
Dana White denies Saudi Arabia turned down UFC offering
The UFC were all set for their inaugural Saudi Arabia event on March 2nd at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. Recently, however, longtime MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani reported that the card was getting moved to a new date, in June, after key figures in the Saudi government expressed their displeasure at the promotion’s lackluster Fight Night plans.
“I’ve been told, via sources, that the planned March 2nd UFC event in Saudi Arabia is being postponed—and the target is June,” Helwani told viewers. “I was told that the reason for the postponement is because they just want—the powers that be in Saudi Arabia—want a… more entertaining fight card.”
In an interview conducted with Canada’s Sportsnet, Dana White responded to that assertion, calling it complete bulls—t, while also conceding that the UFC moved the card for lake of quality bookings.
“We moved the card and I know there’s been a lot of talk about the card wasn’t good enough,” White explained (transcript via MMA Fighting). “We never even proposed a card to them. We didn’t tell Saudi Arabia about one fight, so that’s all bulls—t. It was all bulls—t. We never even proposed a card to them. What we wanted to do is—every time UFC puts on an event, we wanna blow the doors off the place. We want people to be excited.”
“It was our first fight ever in Saudi Arabia and a couple of the fights that we wanted to line up, they weren’t ready to go, so we pushed the card back because we’re gonna deliver. But never once was one fight proposed to Saudi Arabia and they were like, ‘Yeah, no, this isn’t good enough.’
Despite the change of dates to allow for better bookings (whether requested officially or not), it doesn’t sound like the UFC is going to actually try and “blow the doors off,” as White put it. “It’s a ‘Fight Night’ card and there will not be a championship fight on it,” the UFC boss added, speaking of their reconfigured plans.
Dana White talks Saudi Arabia’s sporting dominance
Speaking to another Sportsnet reporter, White responded to the idea of an increasing monopoly on elite combat sports events and talent. Seemingly the idea that the UFC’s new WWE partnership could pave the way for boxing events as well, housing most of the world’s top draws under the TKO banner.
Dana White’s boxing ambitions have never seemed like more than a pipe dream, but the Power Slap CEO gave his thoughts on how the Saudis are changing the game.
“You look at what Saudi Arabia is doing right now, right?” White responded. “Saudi Arabia is going to control whatever big fights you could possibly make. [TKO repped boxing prospect] Callum Walsh is going back to Madison Square Garden, he will fight there. We will take Callum Walsh to Ireland this year too… What I love to do is, I love to build things from the ground up—no matter what it is.
“I would love to play with this for a little while, build some stars, see what we can do. Nobody’s gonna jump in and battle with Saudi Arabia and try to make fights. Those guys got all the money to make all the fights that you couldn’t see or wouldn’t happen, [they] will all happen now because of Saudi Arabia.”
In the meantime, the UFC’s March 2nd offering will be moved to the UFC Apex. No word yet as to whether previously reported fights for that event will be kept in place, or moved to the June booking.