"Shows that Khabib was right" - Fans react to complete absence of ring girls and female presenters at UFC Saudi Arabia

UFC Saudi Arabia saw a major change in the world's premier MMA promotion's regular broadcasting practices, in that it did not feature any ring girls this time. The new shift has the fans divided.

The past weekend at Riyadh, Dana White and Co. made their inaugural foray into the Gulf nation with Robert Whittaker and Ikram Aliskerov headlining the fight night.

Curiously, there was a lack of female presence on the card. No female presenters, fighters, or ring card girls were part of the fight night.

This has prompted many fans to reminisce about legendary former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov's stance of ring card girls serving no purpose for the sport. A statement that many popular ring girls including Britteny Palmer and Arianny Celeste heavily contested.

A social media post by @Home_of_Fight, noting the lack of ring-side divas at the event has invited a slew of fan reactions both against and in favor of the shift. Let's take a look.

@poaslr wrote:

"It was absolutely fine, shows that Khabib was right about them."

@Only_Asg chimed in:

"People will realize soon that Saudi runs a tight ship."

@Von_Weeden pointed out:

"Or female announcers, or female UFC fans."

Check out a few more reactions below:

Screenshots courtesy @Home_of_Fight on X

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Turki Alalshikh reveals tall ambitions post UFC Saudi Arabia success

Saudi Arabia's chairman of General Entertainment authority Turki Alalshikh, has big plans for MMA following the successful UFC Saudi Arabia fight card.

Speaking to Jon Anik during a post-event interview, the 42-year-old said that he wanted to hold a much bigger UFC fight night the following year. While the inaugural card had 12 thousand in attendance, Alalshik is hoping to attract a crowd of 30 thousand fans next time around.

The Saudi official's ambitions don't end there. Speaking to Anik, he revealed a slew of plans including bringing the UFC to the silver screen:

"The next card, we want to make it 30 thousand here. We are waiting and we want women also in the next fight... Two Power Slaps [next year] Director Zack Snyder is a friend. We want to talk about doing a big movie about the UFC, like a Cinderella Man, something like this."

Check out Turki Alalshikh's comments following UFC Saudi Arabia below: