The Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority has a plan to produce a big-budget UFC movie and Dana White appears to be on board.
You would think that the Chairman of the GEA might have taken a breather after such a fabulous touch-down UFC event in Saudi Arabia last night – but the broadcast ended with a suggestion that a big-budget MMA film could be in the works.
Dana White and Turki Alalshikh react to the first UFC Saudi Arabia event
After the UFC Saudi Arabia main event concluded, Jon Anik was joined on the broadcast by CEO Dana White and alongside him, Chairman of the GEA Turki Alalshikh.
White first acknowledged that everything from the Fight Week build-up and the hospitality to the hosting of the event itself was “amazing” – adding that they’re already looking at when the next event can be hosted in Saudi Arabia.
“Our first time in the Kingdom and my first time here so it was a great experience and we’re looking forward to the next one… We’ll be back next year, in the first quarter of next year.”
Alalshikh himself was obviously over the moon with the prospering relationship he’s garnering with White, although he also noted that the next time the UFC touches down in Saudi Arabia; it’ll be in front of more than double last night’s attendance.
“I thank Dana, I am [in] shock. I know the UFC here has a lot of fans but you see now, I’m changing my mind – I don’t think there’s a lot of fans like this; 12,000 fans in here till 1 AM.
“And now I am asking Dana for the next card, we want to make it 30,000 here. We are waiting. And we want women also in the next fight.”
Yet perhaps the most surprising news of the entire night was shared shortly after, the possibility of a UFC movie being put into the pipeline with the ‘Man of Steel’ director at the helm.
Turki Alalshikh wants Zack Snyder to helm a big-budget UFC movie
Turki Alalshikh revealed that not only does he want to fund a big-budget movie about the UFC, but he’s already talked to a world-renowned director about the film.
“I want to have a meeting with him [Dana White] and director Zack Snyder – he’s a friend. We want to talk about doing big movie about the UFC like ‘Cinderella Man’ or something like this.
“I will try to convince Zack Snyder; he liked the idea and convince also Dana.”
For those who haven’t seen Cinderella Man, the 2005 film is about heavyweight boxing champion James Braddock with Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger in the leading roles; it remains one of the best combat sports movies ever made.
Speaking at the post-fight press conference, White appeared to be on board with the idea of producing a movie about the UFC, explaining how there isn’t much in the way of stopping Turki Alalshikh from getting what he wants.
“Obviously, the Sheikh is very aggressive, [but] he loves everything about fighting and there’s a lot of things that he wants to do.
“We’ve got together a couple of times and yeah, it’s all new, interesting and fun. My first time here, our first time here and it was a good experience.”
If a UFC movie was put into production, who would you like to see joining Snyder on set?
And if you are ready for a quiet night in after such an exciting card in Saudi Arabia, we’d highly recommend checking out ‘Cinderella Man’ on streaming for yourself.