The chickens have come home to roost for TKO for linking UFC, WWE, and Zuffa Boxing so closely with Gulf State Sovereign Wealth Funds.
Houthi drone attacks are hitting Saudi Arabia hard just weeks before Canelo Alvarez is scheduled to box in Riyadh on Halloween and WWE’s Crown Jewel event.
These fights are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. If they get canceled or postponed, lawsuits will be flying. TKO’s stock will take a hit. 2027 government contracts, including WrestleMania 43, will face major scrutiny.
Ari Emanuel’s two biggest Arab combat sports money marks, Turki Alalshikh and Khaldoon Al Mubarak, are under the microscope on this week’s edition of The MMA Draw podcast.
For our free subscribers, we break down what we view as the giant game of chicken happening between Turki and Canelo Alvarez. If Alvarez pulls out of his boxing match with Christian M’billi, he stands to lose tens of millions of dollars. If he proceeds with the fight, there’s a solid chance he could lose the bout while fighting in an actively hot war zone!
Take away Saudi money from Mark Shapiro’s Goldman Sachs sales pitch and suddenly the TKO stock is extremely vulnerable to a 10-15% dip. Saudi money is part of TKO’s proposition as both a value stock (monetization) AND a growth stock (Zuffa Boxing).
For our paid subscribers, the much bigger long-term story for TKO is the future of Khaldoon Al Mubarak as a sports investor. The UAE has been a significant player in the UFC’s corporate life story. From Abu Dhabi Combat Club to Flash Entertainment’s 10% ownership to Ari Emanuel’s 2009 introduction to Khaldoon, the UFC is as much a property of the UAE as it is American. Watching the UK public-at-large (politicians, soccer fans, tabloids) turn on Khaldoon Al Mubarak has created significant heartburn for UK PM Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester.
The tabloids have gone as far as to call for the UK government to strip Khaldoon of his diplomatic immunity. Why did the public silently go along with Turki Alalshikh financing all of their major boxing fights post-COVID crash but now is angry about a much more successful and savvy Gulf State player?
This is a nuisance for Ari Emanuel. When the Saudi money dries up for good for TKO, Mubadala (Khaldoon) is the backstop. UAE money is directly tied to Skydance, Microsoft, Oracle, and OpenAI. What happens if the English Premier League and the UK government tank the value of Manchester City?
Some big stress tests are coming up for TKO and their main financiers.
You will not hear this sharp analysis anywhere else with the kind of precision we deliver. Paid subscribers get their money’s worth. Join the industry’s top insiders in subscribing to The MMA Draw Newsletter on Substack. Big Law firms, financiers, promoters, and top public relations firms all subscribe to our Substack newsletter. Don’t miss your chance to be years ahead of the curve on the biggest stories behind the scenes in combat sports.
Nate Wilcox is Editor-in-Chief of The MMA Draw. He founded BloodyElbow.com in 2007 and sold it in 2024.
Zach Arnold is a lead opinion writer for The MMA Draw on Substack. His archives can be read at FightOpinion.com. Contact Zach: fightopinion at protonmail dot com.
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