UFC promising a sporting event that ‘will never, ever be replicated’ in debut at Sphere

The origin of one of the most anticipated and expensive fight cards in Las Vegas history traces back to Tom Brady and U2.

Late last year, the now-retired, seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback came to town to attend the Irish rock band’s Sphere residency. He invited close friend Dana White to tag along and the UFC president quickly agreed, saying, “I’m in,” without thinking too much about it.

He didn’t realize what a transformative experience it would be, taking in a concert at the $2.3 billion venue with all its cutting-edge production values. Midway through, White sat overwhelmed.

“I went, ‘Holy sh**, this is incredible’,” White recounted. “Immediately I realized that U2 was not the star of the show; the Sphere was the star of the show.”

He naturally started daydreaming how he could employ the space for his promotion and has never stopped since. Putting on the first live sporting event in the history of Sphere has become a full-fledged obsession for White, who has devoted countless time and resources to maximize the space.

The culmination of all that work comes September 14 with Riyadh Season Noche UFC, a 10-fight event at Sphere.

“What (U2) did was cool or whatever, but we are going to take this thing to a (new) level,” White promised.

The lengthy title of the card—a shift from the originally and traditionally-coined UFC 306—serves as a reflection on how much has gone into it. More than two months before fight night, White said he had already spent $20 million on production costs to the point that he sought outside presenting sponsors.

Saudi Arabia proved a natural fit as the country continues to invest billions of dollars into sports with its Riyadh Season series of festivals having now included premier fights over the last couple years. The UFC held its first-ever event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in June, and White tore himself out of Sphere long enough to fly across the world to be there.

Most of White’s work on the event hasn’t taken place inside the actual venue anyway, but rather a space at the UFC’s headquarters off Jones and the 215 Beltway transformed to lay out all the plans. He did take the board of directors from TKO Group Holdings, UFC’s parent company, to Sphere shortly before the venue hosted the 2024 NHL Draft in late June.

The UFC had its own event running concurrently to the draft, UFC 303, so White said he didn’t see much about how the NHL utilized Sphere. The draft generally drew rave reviews, but never one to mince words, White wasn’t impressed with the glimpses he caught.

“That’s going to be like kids playing with crayons compared to what we’re doing,” he said.

Details about what’s exactly in store have been scarce, though the Hollywood Reporter did unearth bits of info. The publication reports each fight will take place in a different “world” introduced as part of a film created by a team headed by famed director Carlos López Estrada. 

White said another accomplished director would be on-site and in charge of translating the live experience into the pay-per-view available on ESPN+. A normal UFC pay-per-view has one production truck; Riyadh Season Noche UFC will have four.

“What we’re going to attempt to pull off, I’m telling you right now: This will never, ever be replicated,” White said. “Nobody will ever do this again. It won’t make sense for anybody. It’s just too much money. This will be one of the greatest things you’ll ever see live and we’re going to try to pull off one of the greatest things you’ve ever seen on TV, too.” 

White hadn’t really thought about staging an event at Sphere before the U2 show because the UFC is an official tenant of T-Mobile Arena with a contract in place to stage at least four cards per year there. MGM Resorts International gave White its blessing to pursue Sphere but then booked a boxing match between Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Álvarez and Edgar Berlanga on the same night.

The latter is a point of contention with White, who said he felt disrespected by the decision.

That’s in large part because Riyadh Season Noche UFC is also an ode to the Mexican fighting spirit and to celebrate Mexican Independence Day.

The film is “a love letter to Mexico,” according to White, and the first nine fights all feature at least one Mexican fighter.

That includes everyone from Mexican champion Alexa Grasso, who defends her women’s flyweight title in a trilogy fight against Valentina Shevchenko in the co-main event, to top-tier prospects like lightweight Daniel Zellhuber, who faces Esteban Ribovics on the main card.

The 25-year-old Zellhuber, who trains at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, began campaigning to get on the card ever before his last fight, when he battered Francisco Prado for a third straight victory. 

“I feel this event is for all the people, the true fighters out there, the people that wake up at four in the morning to be a gardener, to be chefs, to be cleaning stuff,” Zellhuber said. “I feel that those are the true heroes of this event and that’s why this event is happening. I’m fighting for all my people and I’m proud of being a Mexican and having the opportunity to represent my country on September 14.”

The main event won’t feature a Mexican fighter but it’s one of the best fights the UFC could currently book—bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley defending his title against top contender Merab Dvalishvili.

O’Malley has become one of the UFC’s biggest stars with a striking-centric style, but Dvalishvili has a wrestling-heavy attack that could be the antidote to solving the champion. “The Machine” Dvalishvili, who lives and trains locally, has won 10 straight and relentlessly talked trash to “Suga” O’Malley throughout the run.

On any other card, O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili would unequivocally steal the bulk of the excitement. But Sphere itself is the true headliner of Riyadh Season Noche UFC.

White won’t downplay expectations, and he can’t contain his enthusiasm.

“It won’t just be the greatest UFC event of all time,” White said. “It will be the greatest sporting event of all time.”

This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.