Dana White responds to rumors of UFC Saudi Arabia delay caused by poor card lineup
Dana White has done a great job of expanding the UFC brand from a global standpoint. The promotion is set to head to Saudi Arabia for the first time in company history in 2024 after the sport of boxing has found plenty of success in the nation.
Following rumors that the event was delayed due to a poor card, the UFC President and CEO denied that the promotion had even pitched a card to the Saudis. Speaking to Aaron Bronsteter of Sportsnet, the promotional frontman stated:
"We moved the card, and I know there’s been a lot of talk about that the card wasn’t good enough. We never even proposed a card to them. We didn’t tell Saudi Arabia about one fight so that’s all bulls**t. We never even proposed a card to them. What we wanted to do is, every time the UFC puts on an event, we want to blow the doors off the place.
White continued:
"We want people to be excited. So it was our first fight ever in Saudi Arabia, and a couple of fights that we wanted to line up, they weren’t ready to go so we pushed the card back because we’re going to deliver. But never once was one fight proposed to Saudi Arabia, and they were like, 'Yeah, no. This isn’t good enough'."
Check out Dana White's comments on UFC Saudi Arabia being pushed back below (starting at the 1:20 mark):
White added that the card will remain a Fight Night with several big names who are popular in the region. Despite speculation that Islam Makhachev could headline the event, the UFC CEO claimed that there will not be a title bout on the card.
Reports about UFC Saudi Arabia being postponed due to the quality of the card prior to Dana White's comments
On Monday, news broke that the UFC Saudi Arabia card had been postponed from March until June. Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour revealed that the postponement was due to the quality of the card, stating:
"I'm being told, via sources, that the planned March 2nd UFC event in Saudi Arabia is being postponed and the target is June. I was told that the reason for the postponement is because the powers that be in Saudi Arabia 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."
Check out Ariel Helwani's comments on the UFC Saudi Arabia postponement below:
While Helwani suggested that the postponement was due to the quality of the card and suggested that Islam Makhachev could headline the event, Dana White seemingly shut down both claims on Thursday. It remains to be seen if the promotion will look to stack the card as they venture to Saudi Arabia for the first time.