Ali Abdelaziz Rules Out Saudi Arabia Hosting UFC 249
Ali Abdelaziz, the manager of Khabib Nurmagomedov has ruled out Saudi Arabia as a potential host location for UFC 249.
The card scheduled to take place on April 18 was originally due to go down at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. However, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic triggered a state wide ban on all mass gatherings meaning the event needs a new home.
UFC president Dana White told Mike Tyson he is currently working on four or five different options and figuring out which works best, he said.
“I’m gonna try and pull off Tony vs. Khabib on April 18 and try to get some normalcy back in this country,” White told Mike Tyson on Friday (via MMA Fighting). “Every day that I work on this thing, I get another curve ball thrown at me. Every time we plan something, it falls apart — I have to re-do it, re-do it.
“I have four or five locations right now and we’re getting this deal done. And then we’re going to figure out who we can get in, who we can’t, what we can do and we’re going to build a card around it.”
Abdelaziz has confirmed Saudi Arabia isn’t one of them. The Dominance MMA CEO broke the news when replying to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya who was speculating about the potential host location. The 185lb king suggested Saudi Arabia on Twitter. “#UFC249 will be in Saudi Arabia…my guess,” he said. Abdelaziz interjected telling Adesanya, “you’re wrong.”
The middle eastern country was considered by many to be a leading candidate to host the card. Bookmakers previously had the kingdom ranked fifth on the list of most likely host locations – Florida is the current favourite to house the event.
Where do you think UFC 249 will eventually end up taking place?
