When the chairman of the General Authority for Entertainment, Turki Alalshikh, entered the boxing arena, there were considerable protests against what many fans saw as the Saudi government’s “sport washing.” Now, Saudi boxing and the GEA are the go-to formula for the sport. UFC CEO, Dana White has had similar success in his combat sports foray. Hall of Famer Teddy Atlas wants the two to join forces even more.
This comes in light of the double-branded Riyadh Season Noche event AKA the UFC 306 pay-per-view at the MGM ‘Sphere’ with Saudi GEA funding. The event broke a gate record with a whopping $21,829,245 output. As such, Hall of Famer Teddy Atlas essentially begged the UFC CEO to partner with Alalshikh in boxing.
I’d say come on in, come on in – we need you! …Turki Alalshikh has helped by making fights that the promoters couldn’t make or didn’t want to make because they didn’t own both sides; Dana White does that; he’s been doing that forever over at the UFC…Maybe if the two of them join…if Dana White brings his model to boxing to have the infrastructure, Teddy would say ‘Hey Dana, come on in this way.’
Teddy Atlas to Denis Shkuratov for the ‘Submission Radio’ Show for SBNation Netwrok (🎥: @SubmissionRadio on YT)
White’s involvement with Irish prospect Callum Walsh and his promoter Tom Loeffler has led to a firm commitment to the sport. The Irish homecoming was live on UFC Fight Pass. Alongside, the 55-year-old MMA supremo is now eyeing a deal with UK station TNT Sports (@boxingontnt), which has had a broadcasting deal with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions. Teddy Atlas, who coached the likes of Mike Tyson, Barry McGuigan, and Alexander Povetkin, wants that UFC fight grind in UFC now.
He explained how the core problem with boxing ‘pre-Turki’ was that promoters wanted ‘non-competitive’ fight grinds. Turki Alalshikh has subsequently brought head-on divisional rivalry and skill-to-skill testing to the forefront. Making what-if super fights in a weight class happen is his specialty; as is White’s. Concurrently, Teddy Atlas isn’t the only one pitching in on these.
Boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. reveals what the UFC ‘understands but boxing doesn’t’
During a live Q&A, UFC CEO Dana White has teased a wider foray into pro boxing. His latest Fight Pass telecast was on Rogers Sportsnet in Canada, ESPN Latam (BZ), Australia and New Zealand on ESPN, etc. Doubling down on his irk for promoter Bob Arum, White has promised bigger things to come out of his end. With boxing in a better place, and also a successful stint with Turki Alalshikh’s GEA, this could be one for ages.
Another Hall of Famer wants UFC CEO Dana White in boxing (Source: X/fightsports.tv)Their recent stints saw a Fight Night debut in the Kingdom. As well as UFC 306, aka Noche UFC, at The Sphere. Narrated by Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, the pay-per-view main card haptic tribute was one for ages. One attendee, martial arts legend Roy Jones Jr, was particularly impressed by the MMA showcase.
Roy Jones Jr. was on hand rapping to his own song during Esteban Ribovics’ Noche PPV walkout. Robert Whittaker has also used the “Can’t Be Touched” tune by Jones Jr. feat Mr. Magic & Trouble. With a major boxing event taking place down the street at the T-Mobile, fans were in surprise to see the 55-year-old. The former boxing world champion explained his choice to veteran MMA columnist Kevin Iole.
[UFC 306] was out of this world and what was even better for me was that every fight was a 50/50 fight… Co-main event got upset, the main event got upset; …you get 50/50 fights – you don’t pay attention to the record, you pay attention to the fighters… What they understand that boxing doesn’t understand is that styles make fights, not records.
Roy Jones Jr to Kevin Iole for his YT Channel (@KevinIole)
Both PPVs proved to be huge successes. However, it was the MMA show at the state-of-the-art arena that grabbed the headlines. That too – with about $5m more in sales.
The legendary four-division world champion explained one of the problems with boxing versus MMA. That is the UFC stacks the deck with a lot more entertaining and meaningful fights. Whereas the boxing card tends to be top-heavy with pro boxers trying to supplant each other and stack blimps in the fractured four-belt era.
