We’re just days away from witnessing Dana White‘s biggest-ever undertaking, UFC 306: Riyadh Season Noche UFC. With a card stacked with some of the best Mexican fighters, it will be interesting to see if the UFC CEO delivers on his big promise to make it “the greatest live combat sports show.” However, things are different this time, because, as the name of the PPV suggests, the UFC is partnering with Saudi Arabia for this event.

Saudi Arabia has slowly but surely started to become the hotspot of the world’s biggest sporting events. They’ve already brought in Cristiano Ronaldo to light up the Saudi Pro League, and now, they’re looking to make waves in the combat sports scene, which is when the Riyadh Season took shape. If you’re wondering what that is, let us help you.

What is the Riyadh Season?

To put it simply, the Riyadh Season is a seasonal event, and it’s scheduled during winter. Having been introduced in the year 2019, Riyadh Season consists of a range of entertainment, cultural, and sporting spectacles. It typically takes place between the months of October and March, and this year, it will commence on October 12. Over 10 million visitors came to Saudi Arabia during the inaugural edition of the Riyadh Season.

The numbers would increase in the second Riyadh Season festival as it hosted more than 7,000 live events, which is a seriously staggering number. Now, the Riyadh Season has found its way into the UFC with a recent deal. Moreover, the General Entertainment Authority, which oversees the Riyadh Season, renewed its deal with Dana White’s promotion.

UFC’s deal with Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and Riyadh Season

The UFC’s maiden event on Saudi soil might have seen a major fight pull out, but it delivered on all grounds. This event was part of the initial deal the promotion had with Riyadh Season. However, a month before that, the General Entertainment Authority signed another deal with Dana White’s promotion, an extension, which added another UFC event in the coming months.

The new Riyadh Season deal also includes the hosting of a Power Slap event, a promotion owned by Dana White, as part of the expanded event commitment. Also, fans can see the title of the upcoming pay-per-view to be UFC 306: Riyadh Season Noche UFC. But why is the name in PPV’s title? Well, it’s for sponsorship reasons.

Riyadh Season sponsors UFC 306, the reason behind the PPV’s name change

The UFC has never had any sponsor’s name on their PPV names in their history. We have seen that in its sister promotion, the WWE, where matches are often sponsored, like the 25-man Slim Jim Battle Royal in 2023. It’s Dana White’s promotion’s time now as they named Riyadh Season as their title sponsor. UFC 306 is not just a special event because it’s taking place inside the Sphere. It’s also a landmark moment in this sport because prior to this title sponsorship, there has been no MMA promotions who’ve ever been able to afford such a deal.

The renewed deal between the UFC and Riyadh Season will also work on creating original content for the social media platforms, as the promotion has over 200 million+ followers across several platforms. But the Riyadh Season isn’t just focused on UFC events. There are many big-time sporting events scheduled for fans. So, without wasting any time, let’s take a look at it.

Upcoming events in the Riyadh Season 2024

The Riyadh Season will kick off its sporting endeavors with the light heavyweight title fight between boxing stars Artur Beterbiev and Dimitry Bivol on October 12. A few days later on October 19th, fans will witness the much-awaited PFL debut of Francis Ngannou, as the UFC champion takes on the towering Renan Ferreira for the heavyweight title. This is surely one of the biggest MMA fights in 2024. In addition to this fight, another heavyweight showdown will take place between ‘The Gypsy King’ Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk for the second time on December 21.

As WWE always does, they will return with the annual Crown Jewel premium live event, and this time it will take place on the 2nd of November. Moving away from combat sports, Riyadh Season will also be the host to the 6 Kings Slam, featuring tennis superstars Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djoković, Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune.

Finally, fans will also get to see two soccer cup tournaments, the Supercoppa Italiana and Supercopa de Espana, featuring top teams like Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Atalanta, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao and Mallorca. It seems like from October 2024 to February 2025, sporting fans will surely be occupied with the Riyadh Season’s exciting events.

What do you think about the UFC-Riyadh Season partnership? Drop your comments below.