Turki Alalshikh Approaches Dana White as Saudi Arabia Opens Door for UFC and Conor McGregor- “We Are Ready”

Conor McGregor has only fought four times in the last six years, with only one of those being victories. Although far from the halcyon days of knocking out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds to become the UFC’s first concurrent two-division champion, Mac’s name still carries significant currency in the fight business.

A testament of this is Turki Alalshikh having expressed interest in having McGregor fight in the kingdom. In a recent interview, the Chairman of General Authority for Entertainment of Saudi Arabia, who is behind Fury-Ngannou, the upcoming undisputed heavyweight boxing match between Tyson Fury and Oleksander Usyk, as well as Joshua-Ngannou, revealed he was in talks with the UFC to make it happen.

Saudi Arabians want Conor McGregor to fight in the country

Dana White led UFC had announced its first card in Saudi Arabia for March 3. The event would have been a non-PPV Fight Night event, which means it was unlikely to feature many big names. The promotion announced that the card would be headlined by a flyweight clash between #8 ranked Mohammad Mokaev and #7 ranked Alex Perez.

For the co-main event, a heavyweight bout between #12 ranked Jairzinho Rozenstruik and undefeated heavyweight prospect Shamil Gaziev was announced. However, it was later decided that the UFC would be postponing its first Saudi card, reportedly due to the Saudis being unhappy with the quality of the card.

And it seems the Saudis do have one name in mind- Conor McGregor. On being asked if the fans would see Conor McGregor fight in the monarchy soon, Turki Alalshikh was optimistic. “We are ready to have a fight with him. We try maybe, and announce it. We will do something big and I ask UFC if there is chance to have McGregor in this card or in the future,” he said. However, even if Dana White is not keen on having McGregor fight on UFC card, there seem to be other possibilities.

McGregor hints at Pacquiao boxing match in Saudi

Conor McGregor was in Saudi Arabia to watch the ‘Day of Reckoning’ boxing supercard on December 23. During interviews given at the event, the Irishman reiterated his desire to fight Manny Pacquiao in Saudi Arabia. Although the Filipino and McGregor were embroiled in a lawsuit that Pacquiao lost and was ordered to pay $8 million, they were seen sitting next to each other in Saudi Arabia a few months ago.

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“The Mac has lots to offer and loads to deliver. They are talking Manny here in Saudi. The lads in the UFC aren’t really talking any,” Conor told talkSPORT. And it is easy to see why he is looking for a boxing match against a retired Pacquiao. His 2018 crossover super-fight with Floyd Mayweather, is ‘notorious’s highest paycheck for a fight in his career.

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