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WWE and UFC are now under the same roof, with Endeavor pulling the strings. They both have deals going on around the world, but one UFC show slated for Saudi Arabia is not happening now.
UFC’s initial plans for its first-ever event in Saudi Arabia, scheduled for March 2nd at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, have hit a snag. According to Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour, the highly-anticipated show is now postponed to June. The information regarding this delay comes from sources who shared exclusive details with Helwani.
“I can tell you exclusively here on the show that I am being told via sources that the planned March 2 UFC event in Saudi Arabia is being postponed and the target is June.”
“I was told that the reason for the postponement is because they – the powers that be in Saudi Arabia – want a, how should we put it, they want a more entertaining fight card, they want a deeper fight card with bigger names on it, weren’t too pleased with what was being offered.”
Saudi Arabian authorities played a key role in this decision, expressing dissatisfaction with the initially proposed fight lineup. It seems that Saudi Arabia were not pleased with the initial offerings and sought a more captivating and robust fight card featuring prominent names. Only time will tell who UFC can book to appease them.
Although the UFC’s official event page for March 2nd lacks confirmed fights, several potential matchups were believed to be in the works. After all, there are a lot of options on the table.
F4W Online noted that several bigger fights could be on the next Saudi Arabia attempted card. At this point, nothing is in stone, those fights could help draw attention to the show.
In their upcoming venture for a Saudi Arabian card, potential matchups include Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev, Alex Perez vs. Mohammad Mokaev, Eryk Anders vs. Jamie Pickett, Ludovit Klein vs. Joel Alvarez, Javid Basharat vs. Aiemann Zahabi, Vinicius Oliveira vs. Yanis Ghemmouri, Brendon Marotte vs. Mohammad Yahya, and Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Loik Radzhabov.
Keep checking back with us here at Ringside News for more on this story, and so many more. You never know what can break next, especially with so much going on around the world.
What’s your take on UFC’s Saudi Arabian event getting cancelled? Let us know what you think in the comments!
