Dana White is indeed the sole reason for UFC’s massive success. From its hay days to now entering yet another international venture in Saudi Arabia, White has constantly been expanding the promotion’s horizons. The UFC CEO and TKO Holdings have demanded shiploads of money from Saudi Arabia’s chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, HE Turki Alalshikh. 

Recently, at the JP Morgan Technology, Media, and Communications conference, Mark Shapiro, the president of TKO Group Holdings, revealed the company’s big move to Saudi Arabia. But did you know how much the Middle Eastern land paid the UFC for a visit? Let’s get a bit deeper into the UFC’s proliferation in Saudi Arabia.

The UFC and Co. plan to expand their relationship with the Middle East

It was previously speculated that Saudi Arabia put forth $20 million to bring the UFC to their land, for a single event, on June 22nd. However, the funding could even go as high as $40 million per event. At the JP Morgan Technology, Media, and Communications conference, the company’s President revealed their growth plans. But he also put forth the condition of a likable incentive to do so. 

Shapiro said, “Look, if we are going to bring the show to town, we are looking for an incentive package. It doesn’t always have to be straight cash, but it has to be a significant incentive package. Because once again, demand is outstripping supply.”

Furthermore, he talked about the deal in Abu Dhabi, where the company was receiving a significant site fee and incentive packages. But as the company expanded to other regions of the Middle East, they wanted to get better deals. 

But the TKO President did not forget the role the UFC CEO had to play. He revealed that the company would be doing a longer term with Saudi Arabia, and it would be all because of White- “I would tell you we would be doing a longer term deal with Saudi Arabia if we already had one event under our belt. So that’s another way of saying as long as everything goes well in June, which we anticipate, I think Dana White would be very amenable to doing a much longer term deal in Saudi Arabia.”

The current deal ensures that the company receives $100 million for two events per year in the WWE realm. But Shapiro said that the company would start asking the authorities for site fees and incentive packages, to bring UFC Fight Nights to the Middle East. 

“We’re getting site fees for our pay-per-views in the UFC — significant by the way here in the U.S. and internationally, but specifically here in the U.S. — and we’re going to starting to ask for those same incentive packages to bring [WWE] Raw to town, to bring [WWE] Smackdown to town, to bring our Fight Nights to town,” said Shapiro

Nevertheless, the UFC CEO has high praise for Alalshikh. The Saudi Advisor wanted to make the biggest boxing fights in his country. And this act garnered the attention of the UFC CEO.

Dana White talks about Turki Alalshikh

In an episode of ‘Pound4Pound’ podcast with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, White revealed his admiration for Alalshikh.  White was simply impressed when Alalshikh put on boxing bouts like Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk.

White was also a fan of his big pockets. He said, “Turki Alalshikh, so this guy now has unlimited amounts of money. He’s trying to make the best possible fights that you that you could make. It’s gonna be interesting to see what he does over the next several years.” 

What are your thoughts on UFC’s expansion plans? Let us know in the comments down below.