LAS VEGAS, Nevada —
It’s just one night, but it promises to be one to remember… At least that’s what Dana White promises.
The second evening of UFC Night will have special treatment after the UFC went all out by being forced to hold its event at the Sphere in Las Vegas due to the fact that the T-Mobile Arena will be occupied by the Mexican Saúl Álvarez.
With a roster of Mexican fighters, Mexico’s Independence Day will have a special commemoration at UFC’s 306th event, when for the first time a contact sports event will be held and which has a bill of “more than $20 million,” according to the UFC president.
Since its debut on September 29, 2023, the Sphere has amazed with its spectacular performance and has quickly been recognized as one of the most spectacular digital venues in the world.
Although White’s original plan was to hold his event where Canelo will be hosting his card, he saw it as an opportunity to create something unique for the Mexican fan base, particularly on Independence Day on September 14.
“I’ve always been a fan of Mexican fighters, back in my boxing days, it’s always been an important market for me,” White told LA Times en Español. “For me, putting on an event where we have not only 15 top fighters from Mexico, but champions, is a big thing for me.”
The cost of organizing the event, which expects around 18,000 fans, has been more than the UFC expected and therefore the ticket prices have also been affected, which depending on where you want to sit, can reach four to five figures.
One of the ways the UFC is looking to turn around its financial situation is by moving the event to the rest of the year.
“What I want to do, if everything goes according to plan and the fights are good, I think we’ll reformat this and then have it for the whole year, just like that ‘Postcard from Earth’ show and experience fight night,” White explained. “I want it to be a sensory explosion night, where people take away something they’ve never experienced before.”
White first visited the Sphere at a concert by rock and roll band U2 and was convinced during the show that it was the right place to host UFC Night.
The first call he made was to UFC Vice President Craig Borsari, telling him that he and the rest of the team would be visiting the facility because he was sure they would like it as much as he did.
Borsari immediately got to work on production and logistics work.
Among the needs of the event were visual effects, location of the octagon, lighting, audio, transitions from one fight to the next, and more. However, to take advantage of all the digital capacity offered by the 160,000 square feet of screens around the ring and 16K x 16K resolution inside, Borsari confirmed the collaboration of Mexican director Carlos López Estrada.
“We had a process to identify a director who would fit this project and we talked to a lot of groups, a lot of directors and Carlos, along with Valerie Bush, really stood out as people who had a real passion for this project,” Craig said. “They obviously had the talent pool and the experience to produce high-level content.”
During the evening, the film “For Mexico, For All Time” will be screened in six chapters, which will intertwine the past, present and future of Mexico.
The film will be narrated by the famous actor Gael García.
“When the project was presented to him, he was fascinated. Gael immediately understood the purpose of the film and because of his career and ability, we knew he was the right person,” said Estrada. “He likes sports, even his latest project has to do with boxing. They were very clear that they wanted to project the feeling of Mexican culture and I think we have managed to do it. It will be a great experience.”
Estrada had to consider the structure of the Sphere in order to make the appropriate films to fit the venue.
“We used different techniques, cameras and equipment that we hadn’t used before,” explained the Mexican director who lives in Los Angeles. “It was a great opportunity to experiment and develop the vision that they were going for. It was very easy to work with them, they were willing to take risks and elevate their vision.”
One of the challenges, due to the structure of the Sphere, was that UFC had to change the way the lights were projected onto the octagon and other details that arose during the process.
To begin, they had to design a three-dimensional model of how the octagon would be located.
“Every seat, every line on the sidelines, everything had to be designed within the model that would allow us to place the octagon on the floor and see from each seat what the stage would look like,” Borsari explained. “Every detail has been well thought out and although there are many new things to see, the fighters will feel like they always have during fights. The lights will come from different angles, but it will be just as they have always had it so they don’t feel the change of scenery too much.”
After seeing at least a dozen configurations and having a clear idea of the design chosen for the event, the next step was to build it and put it to the test.
White banned photos from being taken of the venue until the day of the fights.
“In May we built it where we thought the octagon should go, we walked around the building, we sat in different positions to check the angles and we realized that we needed to push it back about 16 inches and that was the ideal position,” Borsari said.
This is arguably one of the most risky and important steps the UFC has taken in its 31 years of existence. For White, this event could mark a before and after for the sport and although he has assured that they will not hold another event at the Sphere, the door is not always completely closed.
“We’ve always asked ourselves what else we can do, and one of the things we’ve always done is control our production; we don’t let the broadcasters do it,” White said. “It’s more expensive, it’s a pain in the ass, and it’s what we like to do to control our future, among other things. Every time a new technology comes out, we jump on it right away, and if we’re not the leader, we’re definitely one of the first.”
The Prelims will begin at 4:30 p.m. PT (ESPN, ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass), while the Main Card begins at 7 p.m. PT (PPV via ESPN+).
Billboard
Peso gallo: Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili
Flyweight: Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko
Featherweight: Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes
Lightweight: Esteban Ribovics vs. Daniel Zellhuber
Flyweight: Ode Osbourne vs. Ronaldo Rodriguez
Bantamweight: Irene Aldana vs. Norma Dumont
Flyweight: Kevin Borjas vs. Edgar Cháirez
Galloweight: Raúl Rosas Jr. vs. Aoriqileng
Lightweight: Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Manuel Torres
Peso paja: Yazmin Jauregui vs. Ketlen Souza
