Opinion: Why Riyadh is the New Mecca of Combat Sports

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At the beginning of the 1980s, boxing underwent one of its most pivotal changes. For decades, New York venues like Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium and the Long Island City Bowl showcased the sport’s greatest champions. The Big Apple was the undisputed Mecca of combat sports, with the mob controlling most titleholders and top contenders. Yet change was on the horizon.

Tired of the corruption and dwindling gates, boxing turned its back on New York and took its best fighters west for the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas. By moving from the traditional arenas to the outdoor showcases, celebrities flocked to hotels like Caesar’s Palace, The Mirage and the MGM Grand to watch mega-fights, as Sin City became the combat sports capital of the world. Forty years later, that still holds true, but for how much longer?

Las Vegas may still be the No. 1 place to watch boxing, mixed martial arts and professional wrestling, but the city’s grip on the crown is slipping. Promoters have replaced the mob, while greed and favoritism have kept fans from seeing their most desired matchups. Fans are tired of waiting, and change is brewing yet again. Where will combat sports move next if it can’t take its top fighters to Las Vegas or New York?

That answer can be found 8,000 miles east in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In six short years, it has gone from hosting its first professional fight to becoming a rising force in the game. Since the George Groves-Callum Smith fight for the World Boxing Association super middleweight title, Riyadh has hosted bigger and better cards, with names like Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder Francis Ngannou as headliners. With every event, Riyadh’s influence over the sport grows. That will be evident on Oct. 19, when Ngannou makes his Professional Fighters League debut against 2023 heavyweight tournament winner Renan Ferreira in the PFL Super Fights “Battle of the Giants: Brace for Impact” main event at The Mayadeen.

PFL Chairman Donn Davis has announced this card will cost even more to produce than the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s groundbreaking $20 million UFC 306 event held at the Sphere in Las Vegas in September. Fellow champions Cris Cyborg, Johnny Eblen, A.J. McKee and Paul Hughes round out the star-studded show. This was the type of pageantry the PFL hoped to present when it signed Ngannou last year, and now it’s becoming a reality. Cards this loaded used to feel like a fever dream, but the Saudis and PFL have proven that with enough money, any fight can happen. They’re coming for the established order, and like a rising contender, it will only be a matter of time before Riyadh claims the crown as the new Mecca of combat sports.

Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman hoped to change outside perception of Saudi Arabia when he took office in 2017. An avid sports fan, Bin Salaman believed he could turn the kingdom into a top tourist destination through sports. He has given Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the General Authority for Entertainment, full financial backing to aggressively persuade the globe’s best athletes to compete in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis have poured over $100 million into the PFL, $957 million into the Saudi Pro Football League and over $2 billion into LIV Golf, and the money continues to flow. This is about prestige. Bin Salman dreams of replacing the United States as the top power in sports, and at this point, who can stop him? Let’s look at a few accomplishments the Saudis have made in combat sports just this year.

Nobody thought we would ever see an undisputed heavyweight champion again after Lennox Lewis accomplished the feat 24 years ago. With top promoters in the sport refusing to work together in the four-belt era, boxing’s world titles were doomed to stay divided. Former WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury showed little interest in fighting reigning WBA, IBF and WBO titleholder Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed belt—until Alashikh offered him $100 million to take the fight in May. There isn’t a promoter alive who could even dream of making that offer. Alashikh not only can pay it, but he will double it when Fury rematches Usyk in December.

British boxing promoters Frank Warren (Queensberry Promotions) and Eddie Hearn (Matchroom Sport) have been rivals for years. Still, even those two could put the beef aside once Alashikh brought them together for a historic 5 vs. 5 card in June.

Although the Saudis’ goal is to attract fans to the kingdom, Bin Salman and Alashikh understand the value of promoting high-level fights in the United States. In August, Riyadh Season promoted Terence Crawford’s comeback fight against Israil Madrimov in Los Angeles. Crawford’s payday was over seven figures.

Since becoming the face of Saudi Arabia’s foray into combat sports, Alashikh has presented himself as its savior. He has announced that he’s slashing pay-per-view prices from the $70-90 range to the meager price of $19.99, and he has become so much of a fan favorite that he was honored and inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame.

Time will tell, but the shift is obvious: Riyadh is the future of combat sports.