Karim Zidan discusses the influx of Saudi money into MMA and boxing

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Karim Zidan discusses sportswashing in MMA

Of all the many voices in combat sports, Karim Zidan’s is one of the most important. Considering the direction the media has taken in the space, Karim still isn’t afraid to report on the uglier side of it all. With sportswashing becoming more and more common, we wanted to get an educated opinion on it and where combat sports could be headed in the next few years.

Karim was generous with his time, so we were able to get in lots of questions. We’ve also tapped him to come back on a more regular basis and he has graciously agreed to try and join us every few weeks. Today’s questions were focused around Saudi Arabia pouring money into combat sports (and sports in general).

We discussed the connection of PFL receiving a $100M investment and signing Francis Ngannou just a few weeks later, the rivalry between Saudia Arabia and the UAE, if ONE has any shot at gaining some of the Saudi money that seems to be just begging for investment, as well as what the landscape could look like in just a few years. Hint: we might be seeing a lot more events in Riyadh.

There was much more to the episode, but we were happiest with being able to shine a light on Karim’s latest undertaking, getting his late grandmother’s art the recognition it deserves. It’s an episode you won’t want to miss and….. it’s free!

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Stephie Haynes

Stephie Haynes has been covering MMA since 2005. She has also worked for MMA promotion Proelite and apparel brand TapouT. She hosted TapouT’s official radio show for four years before joining Bloody Elbow in 2012. She has interviewed everyone there is to interview in the fight game from from Dana White to Conor McGregor to Kimbo Slice, as well as mainstream TV, film and music stars including Norman Reedus, RZA and Anthony Bourdain. She has been producing the BE podcast network since 2017 and hosts four of its current shows.

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