Dana White has shut down rumors that Saudi Arabian officials were disappointed with the fight card presented by the UFC.
The 2024 UFC calendar year has begun, and there are several highly-anticipated events over the next twelve months, including UFC 300. Unfortunately, one of those previously mentioned events, which was scheduled for March 2, has been postponed.
Earlier this week, Ariel Helwani reported that the UFC’s first event in Saudi Arabia had been pushed back because the fight card didn’t reach the standards of the country’s representatives. During an interview with Aaron Bronsteter, Dana White shut down those rumors by saying:
“Yes, we moved the [Saudi Arabia] card. I know there’s been a lot of talk that the card wasn’t good enough. We never even proposed the card to them. We didn’t tell Saudi Arabia about one fight…So, that’s all bullsh*t, bullsh*t. We never even proposed the card to them.”
The UFC CEO continued:
“What we wanted to do is every time the UFC puts on an event, we want to blow the doors off the place. We want people to be excited. So, it was our first fight ever in Saudi Arabia, and a couple of fights we wanted to line up, they weren’t ready to go. So, we pushed the card back because we are going to deliver.”
Watch Ariel Helwani discuss the UFC Saudi Arabia event postponement below:
Ariel Helwani: Planned UFC event in Saudi Arabia is being postponed and the target is June 📆 #TheMMAHour
▶️ https://t.co/Mpnj3eZcVQ pic.twitter.com/9kA0hCxac8
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) January 15, 2024
Dana White provides update on details for the UFC event on March 2
The March 2 UFC event has been moved from Saudi Arabia to the UFC APEX, dramatically changing the significance of the fight card. During the previously mentioned interview, Aaron Bronsteter asked Dana White if the altered event would still be considered a fight night and if a title bout would be added.
White responded by saying:
“It’s a fight night card, and there will not be a championship fight on it.”
It’s unclear if the following eight confirmed matchups will fight on March 2 – Loik Radzhabov vs. Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady, Mohammad Yahya vs. Brendon Marotte, Javid Basharat vs. Aiemann Zahabi, Vinicius Oliveira vs. Yanis Ghemmouri, Joel Alvarez vs. Ludovit Klein, Eryk Anders vs. Jamie Pickett, Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev, and Alex Perez vs. Muhammad Mokaev.
Watch Dana White’s comments about the Saudi Arabia event and more below:
Dana White on building UFC 300, UFC Fight Night in Saudi Arabia and more.
Full interview coming soon to https://t.co/KUls4CFwuU pic.twitter.com/eXrGlf9d6V
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) January 18, 2024
