Dana White may be one of the most powerful men in all of the fight game, but in terms of sheer money and resources, there is no competition with HE Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the man behind some of the biggest boxing fights over the past couple of years, including the heavyweight unification bout.

The reason? Almost unlimited amounts of money. And now, the Saudi official has shifted focus to MMA, and naturally UFC. Dana White visited the kingdom last month, where he met the Alalshikh and talked business. But what really stood out to some, including Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub was the fact that the Saudi official linked fingers with Dana White and showed him around the Kingdom. The duo, along with their friends couldn’t stop laughing about the incident on the JRE UFC 305 Fight Companion episode.

“Dude did you see he [Turki Alalshik] made Dana hold his hand. And I’m not talking like this [gently], I’m talking interlocked fingers f*k it. I’ll do the same. That Sheikh thought he was f**ing Dana was like a side piece,” Schaub said to a laughing Rogan. To this, Rogan agreed that it indeed was a power move, and quipped the Saudi should have gone further, and made White sing a song, which would have been possible because of the money and therefore power he has. “I like it. They should make you sing a Beatles song, too… It’s amazing what you can get done with a lot of money,” Rogan added.

The Saudis, of course, have been trying to promote the country as a sports hub over the past few years as part of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman’s (MBS’s) sweeping reforms to modernize the country and make it a tourism hotspot. This, along with the fact that Alalshikh is very impressed with the way Dana White does business, has made the Saudis eager to host bigger UFC events in the country.

Turki Alalshikh profusely praises Dana White

Just last month, the UFC put on its first-ever card in Saudi Arabia, kicking off the proceedings with a Fight Night card. In addition, the Saudis (via their brand ‘Riyadh Season’) are the title sponsors for the upcoming UFC Noche (306) card in the iconic Sphere in Las Vegas.

The Chairman of GEA is very impressed with Dana White, having called the UFC CEO one of the best businessmen in the entire industry. This is quite a compliment since Alalshikh has been doing business with the biggest names and promoters in the boxing industry over the past few years. This seems to have also made Alalshikh enthusiastic about holding more UFC events in Saudi Arabia, hinting at a PPV card in the Kingdom soon

“With my brother Dana White, I’m very glad to see you today for the first time… And we want, my brother, to have big card, next big card… [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,” the Saudi official said. What are your thoughts on Turki Alalshikh’s praise for Dana White?