WWE and UFC owners sign multi year deal for new Saudi backed boxing league
WWE owners, TKO Group Holdings, has signed a deal for a new blockbuster boxing league with Saudi Arabia.
Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia's general entertainment authority, and TKO, who also own UFC, said they had agreed a "multi-year partnership". TKO Group Holdings COO Mark Shapiro said last week the agreement would last five years. Saudi representatives are said to keen to form a league after investing billions to host heavyweight fights for Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk in the kingdom.
It is unclear what the league would look like and who would compete in it, but UFC president Dana Whyte revealed: "Everybody knows the format: the best fight the best. You work your way up the rankings, and once somebody breaks into the top five, there's no question who the best five guys in the world are in each weight class and they fight it out.
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"And then once somebody holds that belt, you don't need three letters in front of the belt (reference to boxing's four sanctioning bodies). Whoever has that belt is the best in the world in that weight class."
The UFC and WWE, who merged in a £17.3bn deal under the TKO umbrella in 2023, also hold events in the Kingdom. Under the new promotion, TKO will serve as the managing partner on day-to-day operations, with UFC president Dana White and WWE president and TKO board member Nick Khan placed in "executive leadership" roles.
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