Dana White admits the UFC is putting on such a unique show at Sphere that there’s uncertainty surrounding its success.
UFC 306 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) takes place Saturday at Sphere in Las Vegas and is headlined by a bantamweight title fight between champion Sean O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) and challenger Merab Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC). The event, which has been branded as Noche UFC in honor of Mexican Independence Day, will feature just 10 bouts, but White said the UFC plans on giving fans an experience between each fight.
“We are going to put on this unbelievable entertainment event,” White said Monday on ESPN’s “First Take.” “There’s a movie that’s going to run in the Sphere, and there are chapters to this movie. So, before each fight, there’s a movie, and you will be focused on the Sphere and the screen, then the fighters will walk out, and then the fight is the star of the show.
“When that’s over, there will be another movie, then a fight. This movie that I’m talking about and these chapters will tell the history of combat sports in Mexico, the history of Mexican people, their traditions. It is what I call a love letter to Mexico.”
According to a UFC press release, the UFC “will utilize Sphere’s next-gen tech to make this the greatest sporting event of all time” and feature the world’s highest resolution LED display.
UFC 306 will feature the premiere of the film “For Mexico, For All Time,” in which the film will be told in six, 90-second chapters throughout the pay-per-view portion of the event.
Among the first-time features for Saturday’s show are haptic seats, TAIT’s Automated Camera System, and live audio for the whole event in Spanish.
“Normally when we’re going into an event, I can control all the bells and whistles,” White said. “What makes this weekend very unique is I’m not going to know what works and what doesn’t work until Saturday night when the show is over, then it’s too late.
“This is a one-and-done. … In a perfect world, if this thing goes off the way that I want it to on Saturday night, I think that we can package this, and this could stay at the Sphere and be a show that people can come in and see for the rest of the year.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.
