Turki Alarusik, chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, announced on Tuesday that Riyadh Season and the UFC have signed a “strategic agreement” to extend their partnership.
Alarusik told ESPN that there are plans to hold a major UFC event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in late 2024 or early 2025. He said the event will be “something big” compared to UFC's first event in Saudi Arabia. The highlight of the June 22 card is a middleweight bout between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev.
Riyadh Season, an annual national sports and entertainment festival that attracts sponsors from some of the region's most prominent companies, will be hosting the MMA promotion's inaugural event, UFC 306, on September 14th at The Sphere in Las Vegas. Become a sponsor.
Alarusik said Riyadh Season signage will be displayed throughout UFC 306 branding and merchandise.
“This is a strong message to the market. [this] UFC [partnership]'' Alarusik told ESPN. My favorite is boxing and I will strive to make Riyadh one of the biggest cities in the world for mixed martial arts. ”
UFC and WWE merged last year to form a publicly traded company, TKO. Since 2018, WWE has held at least one premium live event in Saudi Arabia. WWE first held an event in the Kingdom in 2014.
On May 25, one week after the undisputed heavyweight championship boxing match between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh, WWE will host the King & Queen of the Ring in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia do.
Alarusik said enhancements to Saudi Arabia's existing contract with WWE will be announced later this month. Specifically, Alarusik is considering bringing the annual Royal Rumble or WWE's top event, WrestleMania, to Saudi Arabia in January.
“We're going to do big things with the UFC and TKO,” Alarusik said.
Additionally, Alarusik announced that a Dana White Powerslap event will be held in Riyadh.
On August 3, Alarsik will host Saudi Arabia's first Riyadh season boxing event outside of Saudi Arabia with a junior middleweight title fight between Terrence Crawford and Israel Madrimov in Los Angeles.