Foreign Intrigue: Dubai Plans MMA, Laila Ali Spectacles; But At What Cost?
Jake Rossen Nov 12, 2009
The sand-encrusted United Arab Emirates (UAE), which probably exist
in some minds as a kind of distant cousin to Tattooine, has some
fairly significant aversions to American culture: censorship is not
uncommon, evolution is a verboten discussion, and political
officers prefer prison terms over bankruptcy for debtors. Visit and
keep a very, very tight grip on your passport.
But, oh, how they love their sports. As detailed in this grand piece by ESPN’s Jim Caple, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has infused Dubai with multimillion horse racing tracks and golf courses while plying stars like Roger Federer and Tiger Woods into PR opportunities. By 2012, perhaps some of their citizens will be wearing giant cheese wedges on their heads.
Hungry for an international set of roots, UFC President Dana White
traveled to the UAE recently and announced intentions to bring his
promotion to Abu Dhabi. It’s possible he’ll be beaten to the punch
by the Xtreme Kombat League, an obnoxiously-titled promotion that
declared plans to hold a show on
Feb. 20, 2010 in Dubai. The XKL had previously announced a
reality series featuring Dan Severn and Pat Miletich as
coaches.
Promoter Eric Rafiq, who is adopting that very promoter trait of talking first and delivering later, also promised that women’s boxing figurehead Laila Ali would be in Dubai soon to pick up a possible 25th career win. (No one is blinking over the fact that Ali has not fought in over three years.)
If even a portion of all this comes to fruition, it would serve as another indication of MMA’s ability to transcend cultural gaps. It would also serve as notice that there is no dark corner a business isn’t willing to turn a blind eye to: by some accounts, the immaculate architecture and Middle Eastern skylines of Dubai mask a deeply malevolent, deeply Medieval philosophy. Laborers who built the towering structures allegedly worked 14-hour days in the desert heat, passports revoked, and paid only a quarter of their promised wages; if your sexual preferences run toward the same sex, you face 10 years in prison. In Dubai, it is illegal to be Clay Aiken.
It seems absurd to consider a blood-streaked Octagon has a moral obligation to investigate the ground it’s being hosted on. But maybe that’s another sign of this sport’s maturity -- that the UAE might be too ugly for an ugly sport.
Update 11/12/09: Correction: White actually traveled to Abu Dhabi, not Dubai, to scope out plans for a UFC in the UAE.
But, oh, how they love their sports. As detailed in this grand piece by ESPN’s Jim Caple, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has infused Dubai with multimillion horse racing tracks and golf courses while plying stars like Roger Federer and Tiger Woods into PR opportunities. By 2012, perhaps some of their citizens will be wearing giant cheese wedges on their heads.
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Promoter Eric Rafiq, who is adopting that very promoter trait of talking first and delivering later, also promised that women’s boxing figurehead Laila Ali would be in Dubai soon to pick up a possible 25th career win. (No one is blinking over the fact that Ali has not fought in over three years.)
If even a portion of all this comes to fruition, it would serve as another indication of MMA’s ability to transcend cultural gaps. It would also serve as notice that there is no dark corner a business isn’t willing to turn a blind eye to: by some accounts, the immaculate architecture and Middle Eastern skylines of Dubai mask a deeply malevolent, deeply Medieval philosophy. Laborers who built the towering structures allegedly worked 14-hour days in the desert heat, passports revoked, and paid only a quarter of their promised wages; if your sexual preferences run toward the same sex, you face 10 years in prison. In Dubai, it is illegal to be Clay Aiken.
It seems absurd to consider a blood-streaked Octagon has a moral obligation to investigate the ground it’s being hosted on. But maybe that’s another sign of this sport’s maturity -- that the UAE might be too ugly for an ugly sport.
Update 11/12/09: Correction: White actually traveled to Abu Dhabi, not Dubai, to scope out plans for a UFC in the UAE.
