Fan Disapproval: Turki Alalshikh’s Canelo-Crawford Undercard Features Unknowns, Prompting Debate Over Dana White’s Approach

Turki Alalshikh posted a shortlist of some of the fighters he potentially wants to place on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford on September 13th in Las Vegas. Aside from Abdullah Mason and Christian Mbilli, the other fighters aren’t well-known.

Turki’s Undercard: Fan Reaction

It’s been a negative reaction from fans to the list. Some fans suggest that Turki would be better off scrapping this list and focusing on two or three fights involving quality fighters, if they don’t want to spend the money on a loaded undercard.

Dana White’s Event Playbook

The opponent selection for the undercard has a Dana White feel to it. What White has done with the UFC has focused on the main event as the draw to bring in the fans, saving money on the undercard by using promising prospects.

Fans on social media are complaining about Turki’s list of eight fighters, saying they’ve never heard of the vast majority. Dana White is promoting this event.

The List

Christian Mbilli
Mohammed Alakel
Reito Tsutsumi
Justin Viloria
Emiliano Alvarado
Jamar Talley
Abdullah Mason
Nishant Dev

Alakel, Dev, Tsutsumi Underwhelm

Of the obscure ones, I’ve seen Alakel, Dev, and Tsutsumi. They underwhelmed me, and I didn’t see anything in their performances that suggested they would ever win a world title or compete for one. They were average prospects. I have my doubts that any of the prospects will be useful for building up.

Mason and Mbilli stand out like sore thumbs on this list because they’re actual contenders on the verge of fighting for world titles. The rest of the list is unknown. Again, the ones I’ve seen are too poor to be useful to build up in the way the UFC does with their undercard fighters.

Turki revealed earlier today that he felt that the Canelo-Crawford fight was so monumental that it didn’t require a loaded undercard to create interest for them to want to watch it. The event is being streamed on Netflix. Turki intends to use the undercard to allow younger fighters the opportunity to be seen on this huge event.

If I were rich, I wouldn’t put these fighters on my undercard. Again, I’d keep Mason and Mbilli, and dump the rest. Using the UFC model for boxing is a bad idea, and I wouldn’t consider it because it would take away from the event.

The world will be watching Riyadh Season’s Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford fight of the century on Netflix. And for that, I want to load the undercard with young, hungry fighters who deserve the chance to perform under the bright lights. These are some of the names I hope to see… pic.twitter.com/vnRy0OMfNH

— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) June 11, 2025