TKO workers have told Uncrowned they fear for their safety at UFC and WWE events in Saudi Arabia, but as of Nov. 12 UFC Fight Night in Riyadh on Dec. 5, headlined by Israel Adesanya vs. Sharabutdin Magomedov, is still going ahead as announced. The report by Ben Fowlkes of Uncrowned on Yahoo Sports was published on Nov. 11.
Several employees of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of the UFC and WWE, spoke to Uncrowned anonymously, citing fear of reprisal. Their claims are unverified, and TKO had not responded to Uncrowned's request for comment at the time of publication.
What the workers say
According to Uncrowned, the company is pressing ahead with events in Riyadh while Saudi Arabia continues to suffer missile and drone attacks by the Houthi militia in Yemen. One source said that if TKO dropped the shows, "they would lose out on millions and millions of dollars," adding: "So it's all about greed." Another said: "All [TKO executives] talk about is if the State Department says it is OK to fly there," while other sports have postponed their events.
Ahead of the Dec. 5 UFC card, one source said "not one email has gone out" with details and plans for the event, and that there was no backup plan or safety letter. Some staff are talking about not going, Uncrowned reported, though one source doubted many would follow through: "This is a company that can fire you for no reason or any reason."
The background
Uncrowned reported that a cruise missile hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Oct. 10, killing 13 people and wounding more than 300, after which the U.S. State Department ordered diplomats and non-emergency government staff to leave Saudi Arabia. WWE Crown Jewel took place in Riyadh on Saturday, Nov. 7, and hours after it ended a missile struck a tower owned by the state-run oil company Aramco in the city's financial district on Sunday, Nov. 8. All WWE wrestlers were said to have left the country by then.
The Six Kings Slam tennis tournament and the PIF Saudi International golf tournament have been postponed because of the attacks, while fight sports have carried on. A Zuffa Boxing event, another TKO brand, is still scheduled in Riyadh on Saturday, Nov. 14.
TKO's position
According to Uncrowned, TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro told employees at a recent company town hall that TKO would "not hesitate" to cancel or postpone events in the region in the face of "danger or a further escalation." He said cancelling would hurt the business "in a very negative way," but that "business is secondary" to employee safety.
TKO CEO Ari Emanuel told Fox News on Oct. 23 that the company was monitoring the situation and felt it was safe to proceed: "We have a whole team kind of working on this... It's a daily monitoring." As of the report, TKO had not announced plans to move or postpone any of its Saudi events.
What it means for UFC Saudi Arabia
The UFC lists the Dec. 5 card with prelims at 10 a.m. ET (16:00 CET) and the main card at 1 p.m. ET (19:00 CET), streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S. Adesanya (24-6), the former middleweight champion and No. 9 in the UFC rankings, is coming off a second-round TKO loss to Joe Pyfer on March 28. Magomedov (17-1), ranked No. 15, beat Michel Pereira by unanimous decision on June 27.
In the co-main event, No. 1 welterweight Ian Machado Garry (17-2) faces No. 11 Yaroslav Amosov (30-1). Machado Garry lost a five-round unanimous decision to Islam Makhachev in a title fight at UFC 330 on Aug. 15, and Amosov submitted Joel Álvarez with an arm-triangle choke in the second round at UFC 328 in May.
For now the card stands as announced. Whether that changes depends on TKO's decisions as the situation develops, and Pugna MMA will update this story if the event is moved or postponed.
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Sources
This article was generated with AI and may contain errors.