A major UFC event in Saudi Arabia for 2025 came about after the Kingdom approached Dana White about holding Power Slap in their country.
The UFC hasn’t even held its first event in Saudi Arabia yet, but that didn’t stop Dana White from traveling to Riyadh earlier this week to sign an ‘extended partnership’ with the Kingdom. And according to the UFC CEO, it’s all because the Saudis wanted Power Slap.
Power Slap is either the fastest growing sport in the world or a horrific carnival of concussive blows to defenseless rubes, depending on who you ask. Or maybe it’s both. There’s no denying the show does impressive numbers on social media sites, with millions of people stopping to witness the carnage as they scroll through their Facebook reels, Instagram stories, and TikTok feeds.
Is there actual interest in the product past that? White says yes, and that interest was the seed that led to the new Saudi / UFC deal.
“Well, it started with Power Slap,” White said at the UFC St. Louis post-fight press conference. “They wanted Power Slap. I got in there and started talking to them, and then we did another UFC fight too.”
That’s a pretty wild statement, even in comparison to other wild statements White has made about the sporting juggernaut that is Power Slap.
Saudi Arabia announced the extension by saying they had “something big” lined up for their next UFC event. They also plan on announcing an ‘enhancement’ to their deal with WWE next month which could see a major event like the Royal Rumble move to Riyadh. UFC and WWE parent company TKO must be really happy with Dana if it was his Power Slap promotion that helped solidify the UFC’s partnership with the Kingdom.
White also declared we’d see more bundling of Power Slap, UFC, and WWE events together over the same weekend in various cities.
“We already have those dates set up right now where Power Slap goes Friday and UFC goes Saturday,” he said. “You’re gonna see Friday Power Slap, Saturday UFC, and Sunday WWE. You’ll start seeing that stuff too.”