UFC CEO Dana White is calling B.S. on longtime rival journalist Ariel Helwani.
Earlier this week, Helwani reported that the Saudi’s were not happy with the fight card presented to them for the upcoming UFC Saudi Arabia show on March 2nd.
’Ive been told, via sources, that the planned March 2nd UFC event in Saudi Arabia is being postponed—and the target is June,” Helwani said via his MMA Hour Youtube show. “I was told that the reason for the postponement is because they just want—the powers that be in Saudi Arabia—want a… more entertaining fight card.”
During an interview with Sportsnet’s Aaron Bronsteter, Whte denied Helwani’s report and called it “B.S.” while admitting to moving the card due to some fights not being ready.
“We moved the card and I know there’s been a lot of talk about the card wasn’t good enough,” White said. “We never even proposed a card to them. We didn’t tell Saudi Arabia about one fight, so that’s all bulls—t. It was all bulls—t. We never even proposed a card to them. What we wanted to do is—every time UFC puts on an event, we wanna blow the doors off the place. We want people to be excited.”
“It was our first fight ever in Saudi Arabia and a couple of the fights that we wanted to line up, they weren’t ready to go, so we pushed the card back because we’re gonna deliver. But never once was one fight proposed to Saudi Arabia and they were like, ‘Yeah, no, this isn’t good enough.’
Dana White on building UFC 300, UFC Fight Night in Saudi Arabia and more.
Full interview coming soon to https://t.co/KUls4CFwuU pic.twitter.com/eXrGlf9d6V
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) January 18, 2024
The UFC Saudi card is set to take place sometime in June but it’s still currently unclear who will be featured on the upcoming card.
