Over the last year or two, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been heavily involved in the sport of boxing. Multiple big events have taken place in Riyadh over the last two years. The most recent example of the same was a card involving both Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua. As the kingdom expands its search for superstars to fight in the country, Chairman of General Authority for Entertainment in a recent interview shared his plans involving Conor McGregor. His excellency Turki Alalshikh recently sat down for an interview with DAZN boxing.
Alalshikh shared his thoughts on the future plans he has for the sport and how he wants to expand boxing in both Saudi Arabia as well as the rest of the world. In one of the many topics covered, Oladipo brought up Conor McGregor. He asked His excellency Turki Alalshikh if the Kingdom has any plans involving Conor McGregor. In response, Alalshikh said,
“Also I tell to Caroline, my sister Caroline here and she is close friends with McGregor and myself. We are ready to have fight with him. We try maybe, and we will announce it. We will do something big and I ask the UFC if there is a chance to have McGregor in this card, or in the future card.”
Boxing is one of the many sports that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is focusing on heavily. Over the past few years, the kingdom has attracted the biggest names in soccer to their football teams. The likes of Neymar, Ronaldo and Benzema, among others, are all on huge nine-figure contracts with Saudi clubs. However, if the Kingdom plans on expanding its presence in the combat sports world, having McGregor fight in Saudi would be a huge boost.
Will we see Conor McGregor fight in Saudi Arabia anytime soon?
Conor McGregor is currently under contract with the UFC. This means that any fight outside the promotion has to be approved by Dana White. ‘The Notorious’ has been spotted at a few events in Saudi Arabia. Most recently, he was spotted ringside next to Cristiano Ronaldo on the Joshua-Wilder card. Therefore, it is safe to assume that McGregor has a relationship in place with his excellency Turki Alalshikh and his team.
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The UFC and Dana White are also expanding their reach. The promotion is set to put on an event in Saudi Arabia later this year. However, letting McGregor fight will be a bigger topic of discussion involving White, McGregor and Alalshikh. While the UFC might not let McGregor fight in Saudi Arabia immediately, it is very likely that White might allow it later on this year, or perhaps even next year.
