UFC and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Expand Another Event Partnership and Sponsorship Deal

The UFC's ties to the Middle East were strengthened Tuesday as the promotion extended an agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to host another event there, as well as a strategic partnership to sponsor an upcoming event at The Sphere in Las Vegas.

Turki Alalshih, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, announced that Riyadh Season has extended its agreement with the UFC. UFC CEO Dana White also celebrated the news on his Instagram page.

Under the terms of the deal, the UFC will hold another event in Saudi Arabia sometime in 2024 or 2025, followed by an upcoming event scheduled for June 22, in which former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker will take on Khamzat Chimaev in the main event.

In addition to the UFC returning to Saudi Arabia for another event, Riyadh Season, the country's annual sports and entertainment festival, has agreed to sponsor the upcoming UFC 306 at The Sphere in Las Vegas.

The event is expected to take place on September 14, the weekend before Mexico's Independence Day. UFC Noche, a highly successful event that took place in September of this year, also celebrated Mexican Independence Day, and White later stated that he plans to make the event an annual event.

“This agreement is a continuation of Riyadh Season’s goals of hosting and partnering with renowned international events of mass interest,” Turki Alashih said in a press release. “It will also intensify our efforts under Riyadh Season to create diverse content to attract and engage an even wider audience with diverse interests from around the world. The UFC is the most famous mixed martial arts organization in the world, and their platform of fans from around the world is second to none.”

In addition to this deal with Saudi Arabia, WWE – the other half of TKO Group Holdings along with the UFC – has a long-standing relationship with the country. WWE has an event scheduled in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on May 25th.

The previous deal reportedly paid the UFC around $20 million to bring the promotion to Saudi Arabia, so it's almost certain that this new deal will be even more lucrative, especially with the additional UFC 306 sponsorship.