Combat sports press on with Saudi events as tennis, golf pull out

International sports events in Saudi Arabia are being postponed or canceled over safety concerns stemming from armed conflict in the region. Combat sports — boxing, mixed martial arts and professional wrestling — are bucking that trend, pressing ahead with their scheduled events even as the US government has ordered the evacuation of diplomatic personnel.

The Department of State on Thursday ordered non-essential government staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia. The move came after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked civilian airports and key infrastructure, causing casualties and disrupting flight operations.

King Khalid International Airport in the capital Riyadh was struck Oct. 10 in an attack that killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 300. Subsequent attacks halted airport operations entirely; some flights have since resumed, but disruptions continue.

Despite the turmoil, the World Boxing Council super middleweight title fight between boxing star Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, 36, of Mexico, and Christian Mbilli, 31, of Canada, is set to proceed as scheduled in Riyadh on Oct. 31.

Turki Al-Asheikh, who leads Saudi Arabia's sports and entertainment ventures, said Canelo intends to go ahead with the bout. But promoter Oscar De La Hoya, 53, of the United States, urged organizers to cancel or relocate the event. Trainer Robert Garcia also raised concerns, questioning whether the safety of fighters and their teams could be guaranteed when airports were coming under attack.

WWE is also holding firm on its Crown Jewel event, set for Nov. 7 in Riyadh. Some staff members are said to be uneasy about traveling to the country, but the promotion is continuing preparations in cooperation with a professional security firm.

UFC likewise plans to proceed with UFC Fight Night in Riyadh on Dec. 5. Former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Russia's Sharabutdin Magomedov are expected to headline the card, though UFC has yet to make an official announcement on the matchup. UFC CEO Dana White said he has no plans to change the organization's Middle East schedule.

Zuffa Boxing, TKO's boxing promotion, is also set to hold a separate event in Riyadh on Nov. 14.

Other sports have taken a different approach. The Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition, which had been scheduled for Riyadh this month, was pushed back to late December. The Asian Tour's Saudi International golf tournament, originally set for Nov. 18–21, was postponed indefinitely.

The UCI Urban Cycling World Championships, planned for early November, was canceled outright. FIFA also postponed the FIFAe Finals 2026, which had been set for Jeddah. Even the Future Investment Initiative, a major investment conference that Saudi Arabia regards as a national priority, scrapped its plans for later this month and pushed the event to next year.

The combat sports industry's close financial ties with Saudi Arabia appear to be driving its resolve to press ahead. UFC and WWE both operate under TKO Group, a US sports and entertainment conglomerate, which also runs Zuffa Boxing with Saudi capital involvement.

Relocating events would also carry a steep financial cost. Investment bank Guggenheim estimated Tuesday that if all three Middle East events — WWE Crown Jewel, UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and a UFC Fight Night in Doha, Qatar — were moved to other regions, TKO's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization could fall by $70 million to $90 million. Guggenheim also cut its price target for TKO shares from $235 to $228, citing uncertainty in the Middle East.

In a column published Friday, Ben Fowlkes of the combat sports outlet Uncrowd asked why sports events needed to be held in a region at risk of armed conflict when the US had gone so far as to pull its diplomatic staff. He said organizers would face fierce criticism if something went wrong.