Turki Alalshikh lauds Dana White as "one of the best business guy" in martial arts: "We have a lot of surprises in the future"

Dana White was recently described in glowing terms by Turki Alalshikh, the current Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia, which has been responsible for the Middle Eastern country's stunning conquest of the sports world. A clip of White and Alalshikh interacting was shared yesterday on social media.

During their encounter, Alalshikh lauded the UFC CEO as one of the very best businessmen he's ever had the pleasure of working within a combat sports context. Moreover, Alalshikh hinted at jaw-dropping announcements regarding Saudi Arabia's continued partnership with the UFC.

"With my brother Dana White, I'm very glad to see you today for the first time, UFC debut in the Kingdom, and it will not be the last time. And we want, my brother, to have big card, next big card. We have big card tomorrow in Riyadh. I think this is the beginning of big relationship between UFC and GeA Saudi Arabia, and we want to go more and more."

While pleased with the outcome of the UFC Saudi Arabia card, which is set for later today, Alalshikh seemed to implore White to host the next big UFC pay-per-view in Riyad.

"We discuss now about China and about other things, about Riyadh Season sponsor, Riyadh Season, [unintelligible], [Dana White] is one of the best business guy and smart guy ever I see in the martial arts business and I am very happy to work with him. We have a lot of surprises in the future."

Check out Dana White's interaction with Turki Alalshikh:

The clip of the pair's friendly interaction was shared on Alalshikh's X/Twitter account, highlighting how high the Saudi Minister's level of influence in combat sports has become.

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Dana White went all out for the UFC Saudi Arabia card

The UFC Saudi Arabia card, known officially as UFC on ABC 6, is unlike any other Fight Night card Dana White has ever assembled. It is a star-studded affair worthy of being a pay-per-view. Its original headliner was Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev, but the bout was scrapped after 'Borz' withdrew due to illness.

He has since been replaced by Ikram Aliskerov. The card also features heavyweight knockout artist Sergei Pavlovich taking on towering striker Alexander Volkov. Other notable names on the card are Johnny Walker, Kelvin Gastelum, and Sharabutdin Magomedov, highlighting the herculean effort the UFC CEO made.

Naturally, Alalshikh and the UFC's Saudi partners were undoubtedly pleased with the White pulling out all the stops for them.