Saudi Arabia is not pleased with the bouts the UFC has prepared for its Fight Night March 2 event, pushing it to postpone the event.
The promotion giant was originally scheduled to bring its event in March in Saudi, but MMA journalist Ariel Helwani shared in a recent episode of The MMA Hour that it would be pushed to June. According to the report, the sovereign Arab Islamic state is not satisfied with the lineup the promotion has for its show consisting of the following names:
- Mohammad Mokaev vs. Alex Perez
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev
- Eryk Anders vs. Jamie Pickett
- Joel Alvarez vs. Ludovit Klein
- Javid Basharat vs. Aiemann Zahabi
- Yanis Ghemmouri vs. Vinicius Oliveira
- Brendon Marotte vs. Mohammad Yahya
- Abdul-Kerim Al-Selwady vs. Loik Radzhabov
“They want a more entertaining fight card, a deeper fight card with bigger names on it,” Helwani shared. “[They] too pleased with what was being offered.”
As Helwani further pointed out, it might have something to do with Islam Makhachev’s earlier post about a June 8 pay-per-view fight against Justin Gaethje, suggesting the fighter knows something about it and might probably be involved in the event. For the journalist, the move is also unsurprising for Saudi Arabia, given that what the UFC is offering is just a Fight Night event. It is also important to note that other promotions (Bellator vs. PFL PPV and the Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou boxing event) are also bringing high-profile events in Saudi this year, making UFC’s card appear less appealing.
We will update this story with more details once the UFC confirms the claim.
