UFC Saudi Arabia rescheduled
UFC Saudi Arabia will still take place this year, however, it was postponed till June 22. All to ensure the best quality fight card possible.
Yesterday, General Authority for Entertainment (GEA) chairman, Turki Alalshikh announced that the UFC Fight Night 238 has been rescheduled for June 22. Originally the event was set to take place in Riyadh on March 2.
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Originally the news about Saudi Arabia’s authorities’ decision was reported on January 15 by MMA journalist, Ariel Helwani. During his MMA Hour program, Helwani stated that Saudi Arabia’s representatives were disappointed with a proposed fight card and demanded a quality improvement.
During the UFC 297 post-fight press conference, UFC CEO Dana White denied Helwani’s report about UFC Saudi Arabia to some degree.
Total bullsh*t. That’s a straight-out f*cking lie. I don’t know who started it or how it started, but not one fight was announced to Saudi. I called and asked to push the card back. We had a couple of guys we wanted on the card and they weren’t ready. You know how we are. We wanted to deliver. If we’re going to Saudi Arabia and the level these guys do things… and it’s a Fight Night. We want to make it the best Fight Night we’ve ever done. So Anybody who came out and said it was because the card wasn’t good is a f*cking liar.
The March 2 event is now set to take place at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas. All previously announced match-ups will still happen. As for June 22, any potential bouts are yet to be declared.
Matches previously announced for the March 2 event in Saudi Arabia:
Mohammad Mokaev vs. Alex Perez; Flyweight
Eryk Anders vs. Jamie Pickett; Middleweight
Vinicius Oliveira vs. Yanis Ghemmouri; Bantamweight
Joel Alvarez vs. Ludovit Klein; Lightweight
Javid Basharat vs. Aiemann Zahabi; Bantamweight
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev; Heavyweight
