Dana White Plans On Working More With Turki Alalshikh

Dana White says he is keen on working with the Saudis moving forward. 

The UFC held its first card in Saudi Arabia on June 22. Robert Whittaker vs. Ikram Aliskerov headlined the event. Whittaker secured an impressive first-round stoppage to cap off a successful event. There have been some mishaps before that, as Khamzat Chimaev was scheduled to face Whittaker. But the Russian pulled out after suffering from an illness.

Turki Alalshikh will now expand the Saudi influence in the UFC with UFC 306 at The Sphere in Las Vegas. The card is sponsored by Riyadh Season and has been named Riyadh Season Noche. Sean O’Malley will headline against Merab Dvalishvili in a defense of his UFC Bantamweight Title.
Meanwhile, Alex Grasso takes on Valentina Shevchenko in their trilogy.

White Reacts

White has said at least $17 million has been spent on the card. There will also be 10 fights rather than 12, as the aim is to secure more quality. The card will go up against Canelo Avarez’s boxing fight with Edgar Berlanga on Mexican Independence Weekend on September 14. White sees this as the start of many positive things to come. 

“No we wouldn’t go to the Sphere [with them again] but we’ll definitely do other things with them during their season. I’ve created a great relationship with him over the last few months. I like him, and yeah, we’re going to do some stuff together. [We’ll do] lots of things. No, [I can’t say more], haha,” White said 

Given the event’s magnitude, White will want to ensure that everything goes well. But he has been unhappy with Merab’s conduct leading up to the O’Malley fight. Dvalishvili annoyed White after revealing he had suffered a cut. Merab shared the footage on social media, resulting in mass criticism as it gave O’Malley an insight into how his opponent was doing.

White On Merab

“The whole world knows about Merab’s cut, he posted it. Our guys are so dumb, it’s next-level unbelievable. All the stuff that I talk about boxing, what I will give boxing, is when something happens in the camp, man, let me tell you what, it does not leak. And our guys can’t…wait to put it up on social media…It’s a small cut, no big deal, but obviously needed to be posted…It is next-level stupid, some of these guys are so stupid it’s…mind-boggling, it’s unbelievable,” White revealed

That could give Suga an advantage if he decides to target the eye. But rather than learn from the first incident, Merab has continued to poke the bear. The following footage shows Merab taking the stitches out by himself, resulting in a reaction from White. 

“Isn’t he awesome? I think he’s just [messing] with me now, to be honest with you. Do what you want. You ever see the scissors they take stitches out with? They’re tiny and they have that thing on there so you don’t cut yourself. You can slide them up under the stitches, you don’t cut yourself. This guy had…bush shears that he was using, that you trim your…bushes with, that gardener’s use. Whatever. Good for him,” White stated 

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