It’s a promoter’s dream, and one UFC president Dana White hopes his company will come close to achieving this weekend when the UFC takes over Sphere in Las Vegas.
Sphere is a unique venue opened in 2023 and hailed for itsaudio and visual capabilities both inside and outside the dome. Used primarily as a concert venue, the UFC will host its UFC 306 pay-per-view in the 18,600-seat amphitheatre which doubles as Noche UFC – a 10-bout event that celebrates Mexican Independence Day.
In order to see the vision come to life, the promotion has worked with 13 external creative collaborators, including producers of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Emmy award winners and Oscar nominees, and spent about NZ$30 million.
“I believe that this is going to be one of those seminal moments where sports and entertainment come together in a really unique way,” UFC senior vice-president of production and programming Chris Kartzmark told the Herald.
“We’ve got 10 mixed martial arts fights, including two title fights - I mean, these are really significant match-ups - and then we’re wrapping around this narrative of, as Dana calls it, a love letter to the Mexican people; to their culture, their fighting spirit, their warrior heritage and their tremendous history in combat sports.”
Sphere in Las Vegas has been hailed for its technological capabilities both inside and outside the dome. Photo / UFC
The vision that will come to life on Sunday afternoon (NZ time) includes fights taking place in different “worlds” - each one a nod to a different period in Mexican history – and a film that will play in segments between bouts on the main card.
Kartzmark said the promotion set lofty aspirations as soon as Sphere became a venue they wanted to explore.
“It was more like we’re doing this and it’s going to have to be the greatest sporting event of all time,” Kartzmark said.
“I’ve been here for 15 years, and Dana has a great way of shoving us outside of our comfort zone, but that push and his vision gets us to do things that we would not have been able to achieve probably on our own.
“It’s fun and it’s a real challenge. Once he was committed to doing it, we were all committed to doing it, then it was quickly pivoted to ‘Okay, how do we make this incredible? How do we take this challenge and turn it into an experience that people will never forget?’”
At the top of the bill, fan-favourite Sean O’Malley will put his bantamweight title on the line against Merab Dvalishvili, with Mexico’s Alexa Grasso putting her flyweight title on the line against Valentina Shevchenko in the co-main event.
Athletes will wear unique kits specially designed for Noche UFC. Alexa Grasso will put her flyweight title on the line in the co-main event. Photo / UFC
Fans in the arena will be treated to an immersive experience, not just from the visuals around them, but the haptic seats in the venue will allow them to feel the action as well. That won’t be for every punch landed, but the seats will respond to the visuals as well as some in-cage action.
What adds to its lofty targets is the experience for TV viewers. Kartzmark said a lot of consideration was put into how they give those watching at home a new experience, and the result will see a pay-per-view unlike anything the promotion has broadcast before.
“I hope people will find themselves having an emotional experience. I think live sports, especially combat sports, are inherently emotional. There’s inherent drama there, but I think there’s going to be a wider range of emotion that people will experience.
“I certainly hope people of Mexican heritage feel like we have told their story to the extent that we can in this format; told it in a way that is respectful and that they feel patriotic and they feel really proud of the event [and] the way that it was presented.
“I think people will, after experiencing this, this will be one of the handful of sports or entertainment events that stick with them for the rest of their lives.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
