Turki Alalshikh is continuing to make monumental moves in the combat sports world, extending the Riyhad Season partnership with the UFC.
In recent years, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has became a power house for boxing, with the likes of Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou, Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou and the upcoming unified Heavyweight title fight all heading the Kingdom. Fight fans have also seen MMA events head that way too, with the PFL vs Bellator CHAMPS card taking place at the Kingdom arena, and PFL’s Mena series set to start this weekend. 2024 see the UFC hold their first Fight Night in the Kingdom when Robert Whittaker takes on Khamzat Chimaev on June 22.
A press release released by Turki Alalshikh, read:
“Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), has announced that Riyadh Season has extended their partnership with the UFC.
“The agreement will see another UFC event brought to the Kingdom during Riyadh Season 2024-2025. In addition to the UFC event, Riyadh will also host a Power Slap event, the world’s premier slap fighting organization led by Dana White, for the first time.
“In addition to these two events to be held in the Kingdom, Riyadh Season will also serve as sponsor for UFC 306 on Saturday, September 14, the first UFC event to be held at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
“HE Turki Alalshikh said: “This agreement is a continuation of Riyadh Season’s aims to host and partner with prominent and international events of mass interest. It also enhances our efforts for Riyadh Season to produce diverse content in order to engage and attract an even wider audience with different interests from around the world. UFC is the most prominent Mixed Martial Arts organization in the world and their platform of global fans is unrivalled.”
As mentioned in the aforementioned press release, the new deal will also see PowerSlap head to the kingdom for the first time, having grown from strength to strength since its launch back in January 2023.
Speaking on the deal, UFC CEO Dana White said:
“I'm excited about this deal. Obviously, you know, my goal from day one has been to bring this all over the world. We're going to do our first event in the kingdom this year. And then now we just signed to do another one next year. Plus, I'm bringing Power Slap this year and next year, too.” He continued.
“So we're going into a new market, which is what I love to do. I love to go into new markets. I love to break records. And I can tell you this right now, for the people that live in Saudi Arabia and they've never been to a live UFC event they’re in for a real treat, nobody walks out of one of our events and says, I don't ever want to see one of these again.”
