Boxing Organizer Turki Alalshikh Strengthens Ties With UFC

09/05/2024

Saudi Arabia has strengthened its ties with UFC for future big-name events.
Riyadh will host ‘UFC on ABC’ show in the summer, followed by even bigger event.
Turki Alalshikh will sponsor UFC’s big show of the year at The Sphere, and also Power Slap.

Turki Alalshikh announced Tuesday that Saudi Arabia has strengthened its ties with the UFC, and even Power Slap. Alalshikh has played a critical role in boxing’s relevancy in recent years, having staged a series of high-profile fights including Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou, Anthony Joshua vs Ngannou, and the upcoming undisputed heavyweight championship match between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.

The UFC has an event in Riyadh — a UFC on ABC show — scheduled June 22. A middleweight match between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev headlines a show that also features:

Sergei Pavlovich vs Alexander Volkov heavyweight
Johnny Walker vs Volkan Oezdermir light heavyweight
Kelvin Gastelum vs Daniel Rodriguez welterweight

But the relationship will not end there.

According to an official statement, and photograph, which Alalshikh posted on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, the UFC will hold a second show, together with a slap fighting event, in Saudi Arabia.

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“A strategic agreement has been signed between Riyadh Season and the Ultimate Fighting Champinship (UFC),” Alalshikh posted on X. “Including the sponsorship of the UFC event in Las Vegas, the UFC event in Riyadh, and Power Slap competitions.”

The Las Vegas event Alalshikh is referencing is UFC 306, an undetermined card which takes place on the weekend closest to Mexican Independence Day weekend — a traditionally hot date on boxing’s calendar — at The Sphere, a $2.6 billion state-of-the-art structure near The Venetian casino on the middle of the iconic strip. UFC boss Dana White has told GIVEMESPORT previously that, because of the custom graphics and experiences they’d create at the unique venue, the event could be a loss-leader. But you don’t do an event at The Sphere to make money, he said at the time, you do it to create the baddest combat sports show of all time. With Alalshikh and Saudi Arabia on board, it is unclear if the event would still lose money.

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Saudi Arabia Wants Even Bigger UFC Shows

Alalshikh told ESPN they will host a bigger event than the one already on the calendar

Though the region is already hosting a UFC Fight Night type of event in the summer, it wants to host a bigger show later this year, or at the beginning of 2025, ESPN reported Tuesday. He told

‘The Worldwide Leader in Sports:’

“This is a strong message to the market with [this] UFC [partnership]. We are working with everyone. My favorite is boxing, but we will try to make Riyadh one of the biggest cities around the world in MMA.”

“We will do big things with the UFC,” Alalshikh said. And one of those big things is a box office type event within the next nine months.