Dana White: Turki Alalshikh reinvests in boxing while everyone else just takes

[Ruthless-RKO]

Dana White: Turki Alalshikh reinvests in boxing while everyone else just takes

UFC President and CEO Dana White will kick off his maiden voyage with combat sports power broker Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia, during UFC 306 on Mexican Independence Day weekend on Saturday.

The $20 million production and event is being billed as Riyadh Season Noche UFC, and it marks the first-ever live sporting event staged at The Sphere in Las Vegas. The event has been labeled as a “love letter” to Mexico.

UFC 306 will go head-to-head against Canelo Alvarez’s fight against Edgar Berlanga across the street on The Strip at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Although Alalshikh has insisted that UFC 306 will trump Alvarez’s show on Saturday night, White said the power broker still has good intentions for the sweet science.

“When you look at what Turki Alalshikh has done, it took Saudi Arabian money to make fights you never thought would be made,” White told BS. “This is the first guy that is reinvesting back into the sport of boxing. Everybody else takes. It's like a going-out-of-business sale every time they put on an event. 'Let's grab as much money as we can and run.' He's actually reinvesting in the sport, and I find it interesting.”

Alalshikh will continue investing in MMA. Riyadh has already hosted a UFC show in June and is planning for another major card in the coming months.

But would White plan to be involved in Alalshikh's boxing projects moving forward through his long-planned and since rebranded boxing outfit, TKO Boxing?

“There is nothing done with his company,” said White, days after alluding that anything was possible regarding helping Alalshikh with his recently proposed Saudi-backed boxing league.

“We're doing some UFC and Power Slap events out there.”

[handsofstone]

Fckn kip of him, I know next to nothing about UFC but I know Dana pays his guys peanuts, that's why they're always begging for a crossover payday which of course he wouldn't allow

[cormack]

" “This is the first guy that is reinvesting back into the sport of boxing. Everybody else takes. "

pot kettle etc .
what a hypocrite !

[deadpan]

When Power Slap just about scrapes into the Top 10 of unpalatable things about him, you know you are dealing with a certified shagsack.

[KiwiRider]

Turki invests in the very top level boxers fighting each other. No complaints about that, but he glaringly doesn't invest in any grass roots boxing. It's unsustainable, shallow and short term.

[Coco]

Turki invests in the very top level boxers fighting each other. No complaints about that, but he glaringly doesn't invest in any grass roots boxing. It's unsustainable, shallow and short term.

But it should bring far more interest into the sport

[margaret thatcher]

Turki invests in the very top level boxers fighting each other. No complaints about that, but he glaringly doesn't invest in any grass roots boxing. It's unsustainable, shallow and short term.

what is your idea of grass roots boxing? riyadh season novice amateur shows? paying for gym equipment?

his job is to put on big events to be fair, its not really glaring that he wouldnt spend money on the lowest levels. local communities should do more for that.

[Cask]

Dana White was a goofy women's boxercise class instructor who was friends with the Fertittas who were mobbed up, and had Vegas mob money, they plopped Dana in as the face and the stooge when they bought over UFC, Dana nor the Fertittas were ever about MMA, it was an investment to get rich, and it was only Griffin vs Bonnar that saved them, which was just a good brawl really but the ratings from the first TUF reality show they had just come from tilt the scale

(Bonnar lost his mind and died under some.horrible circumstances if I remember?? Was tragic)

Dana doesn't know boxing , Dana do boxing, he doesn't do MMA he does UFC and UFC business only

But if course he's kissing Saudi ass the great patriot that he is. These guys are shameless , Dana still bitter boxing will always be more popular than MMA

[Cask]

Power Slap, he should be out to sleep for that alone, he's carny

[mickey1975]

Turki invests in the very top level boxers fighting each other. No complaints about that, but he glaringly doesn't invest in any grass roots boxing. It's unsustainable, shallow and short term.

what is your idea of grass roots boxing? riyadh season novice amateur shows? paying for gym equipment?

his job is to put on big events to be fair, its not really glaring that he wouldnt spend money on the lowest levels. local communities should do more for that.

Isn't that what they're doing bringing in Bobby Rimmer and Brian Rose to the Mike Tyson boxing club for when Joe Gallagher isn't there?

[veriton]

How is he reinvesting? He just taking oil money and giving more of it to the same people as everyone else. He has zero crowds to support this in Saudi and has also tried to rinse everyone via constant ppvs the same as all of the others.

[KiwiRider]

Turki invests in the very top level boxers fighting each other. No complaints about that, but he glaringly doesn't invest in any grass roots boxing. It's unsustainable, shallow and short term.

what is your idea of grass roots boxing? riyadh season novice amateur shows? paying for gym equipment?

his job is to put on big events to be fair, its not really glaring that he wouldnt spend money on the lowest levels. local communities should do more for that.

Dunno what he could do, maybe an "up and coming"series of events culminating in a minor belt or eliminator position. He has a lot of money going to just the top 5% of world boxers, and most of that to heavy weights. It just seems to me to be a flight of fancy, rather than something concrete. The royals could change their mind or Turki could easily fall out of favour and this whole thing dissappears overnight. It has happened before. The Saudis can be very fickle and don't tolerate offence.
So while I'm enjoying the big fights, I don't see it as anything more than lining the pockets of the very few until they don't.

[black panther]

Turki invests in the very top level boxers fighting each other. No complaints about that, but he glaringly doesn't invest in any grass roots boxing. It's unsustainable, shallow and short term.

what is your idea of grass roots boxing? riyadh season novice amateur shows? paying for gym equipment?

his job is to put on big events to be fair, its not really glaring that he wouldnt spend money on the lowest levels. local communities should do more for that.

Dunno what he could do, maybe an "up and coming"series of events culminating in a minor belt or eliminator position. He has a lot of money going to just the top 5% of world boxers, and most of that to heavy weights. It just seems to me to be a flight of fancy, rather than something concrete. The royals could change their mind or Turki could easily fall out of favour and this whole thing dissappears overnight. It has happened before. The Saudis can be very fickle and don't tolerate offence.
So while I'm enjoying the big fights, I don't see it as anything more than lining the pockets of the very few until they don't.

Good post I agree 100%

I remember the days I'd get excited about British level fights even area level. If promoted properly and well matched, boxing can really create a buzz.

With the proliferation of titles, it's always "we will go another route and they can meet down the line" which they never do unless they're past it.

[mickey1975]

what is your idea of grass roots boxing? riyadh season novice amateur shows? paying for gym equipment?

his job is to put on big events to be fair, its not really glaring that he wouldnt spend money on the lowest levels. local communities should do more for that.

Dunno what he could do, maybe an "up and coming"series of events culminating in a minor belt or eliminator position. He has a lot of money going to just the top 5% of world boxers, and most of that to heavy weights. It just seems to me to be a flight of fancy, rather than something concrete. The royals could change their mind or Turki could easily fall out of favour and this whole thing dissappears overnight. It has happened before. The Saudis can be very fickle and don't tolerate offence.
So while I'm enjoying the big fights, I don't see it as anything more than lining the pockets of the very few until they don't.

Good post I agree 100%

I remember the days I'd get excited about British level fights even area level. If promoted properly and well matched, boxing can really create a buzz.

With the proliferation of titles, it's always "we will go another route and they can meet down the line" which they never do unless they're past it.

Bostan v Davis at English level is a great match.

[KiwiRider]

what is your idea of grass roots boxing? riyadh season novice amateur shows? paying for gym equipment?

his job is to put on big events to be fair, its not really glaring that he wouldnt spend money on the lowest levels. local communities should do more for that.

Dunno what he could do, maybe an "up and coming"series of events culminating in a minor belt or eliminator position. He has a lot of money going to just the top 5% of world boxers, and most of that to heavy weights. It just seems to me to be a flight of fancy, rather than something concrete. The royals could change their mind or Turki could easily fall out of favour and this whole thing dissappears overnight. It has happened before. The Saudis can be very fickle and don't tolerate offence.
So while I'm enjoying the big fights, I don't see it as anything more than lining the pockets of the very few until they don't.

Good post I agree 100%

I remember the days I'd get excited about British level fights even area level. If promoted properly and well matched, boxing can really create a buzz.

With the proliferation of titles, it's always "we will go another route and they can meet down the line" which they never do unless they're past it.

When I look back at the end of any year's boxing to find what I think is the FOTY, at least 2/5 of the best fights of the year that I've seen were British title fights.

[black panther]

Bostan v Davis at English level is a great match.

Yes definitely could of been. Surprise surprise it's not happening

[mickey1975]

Bostan v Davis at English level is a great match.

Yes definitely could of been. Surprise surprise it's not happening

Through no fault of either! Davis couldn't turn down this opportunity. Although I'm behind Davis in the Kelly fight I wanted Bostan in this. He helps loads of young ams I know and is just a proper boxing person. He right up for it as well.

[tony1234]

The game changer would have been putting Saturday's fight on free to air BBC or ITV and use it to grow a new fan base , either money is no option or use PPV to pay for the fights ?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Every thing behind a paywall now doesn’t help build any sport.

Champions league during the week, I remember growing up watching the games for free.

They used to have millions of viewers.. now they lucky to probably have 800k-1m viewership.

[mickey1975]

Seconds Out have been banned from covering the Wembley show by Turki....

[margaret thatcher]

what they do

[mickey1975]

what they do

I don't know. Apparently loads of websites have taken down articles in case it upsets HE.

[SeanBrennan]

Seconds Out have been banned from covering the Wembley show by Turki....

not like the Saudis to censor anything.....

[SeanBrennan]

what they do

I don't know. Apparently loads of websites have taken down articles in case it upsets HE.

Not surprising sadly. Most of the YT channels are inhouse cheerleaders so I dare say nearly all will follow suit. Stomping Ground would do promos promoting stoning women if it got them VIP seats.

[veriton]

Although its a good card, im not paying out extra for it. These ppvs are a joke and are killing boxing. Is this going to be on the radio?