UFC's first show in Saudi Arabia is reportedly being postponed.
The event was originally scheduled for the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on March 2 but Ariel Helwani reported on Monday that the decision has been made to push it back to June.
According to Helwani, the reason the card has been pushed back is that "higher-ups" in Saudi Arabia were not impressed with the lineup.
Helwani said:
I can tell you exclusively here on the show that I am being told via sources that the planned March 2 UFC event in Saudi Arabia is being postponed and the target is June.
I was told that the reason for the postponement is because they - the powers that be in Saudi Arabia - want a, how should we put it, they want a more entertaining fight card, they want a deeper fight card with bigger names on it, weren't too pleased with what was being offered.
UFC's official event page does not list any confirmed fights for the March 2 event. However, the following fights were believed to have been planned for the show.
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev
- Alex Perez vs. Mohammad Mokaev
- Eryk Anders vs. Jamie Pickett
- Ludovit Klein vs. Joel Alvarez
- Javid Basharat vs. Aiemann Zahabi
- Vinicius Oliveira vs. Yanis Ghemmouri
- Brendon Marotte vs. Mohammad Yahya
- Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Loik Radzhabov
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