Dana White Talks Up The UFC 306 Sphere Card
Dana White has opened up on the amount of work that has gone into the UFC 306 Sphere Event.
The card takes place on September 14 during Mexican Independence Weekend. While no Mexican fighters will headline, fans have plenty to look forward to. Sean O’Malley will take on Merab Dvalishvili in the main event. Suga defends his title for the second time and enters it in good form. He defeated Marlon Vera at UFC 299 to avenge the Vera loss earlier in his career. Merab has won ten in a row, making him the leading contender to dethrone O’Malley.
In chief support, Alexa Grasso defends her flyweight title against Valentina Shevchenko in a trilogy. Their UFC Noche fight last year was a thriller but ended in controversy. Mike Bell’s decision to score the last round 10-8 in favor of Grasso meant it was a split draw. Valentina felt she was hard done by, with even White being critical of the scorecard.
Big Fights
Grasso kept her title as it set the narrative for a trilogy. White has already confirmed that $17 million has been invested into the card, making it a blockbuster event. There will also be more focus on quality. There are ten fights rather than the usual 12.
The Sphere cost 2.3 billion to make. It has a 160,000-square-foot 16K-resolution screen, allowing up to 20,000 people. The presale prices are between $3,000 to $12,000. Meanwhile, the event could set a new UFC live gate record, breaking that of Eddie Alvarez vs. Conor McGregor in 2016. Andrew Schleimer, the TKO Group Holdings Chief Financial Officer, had this to say:
“Look, we’re bullish. We’ve talked obviously about this being a cultural event and Dana has publicly stated how much more [invested UFC is] in this event, and obviously this is going to be a massive spectacle for those in the arena and for those at home. On the top side, this will be one of the largest gates if not meaningfully the largest gate that we’ve ever done, and on the cost side, it’s going to be the single largest investment that we’re making in an event. It’s even more expensive than we originally anticipated.”
White Reacts
White was also confident about the event’s success.
“So what we’ve done, really what we’re going to do on September 14 takes over a year to do. We’re doing it in four months. So, when the show starts, we’re going to have the prelims, and then we’re going to tell — throughout the rest of the night — the history of combat in Mexico, from the beginning of time and into the future.
“So the first fight of the night will start at the beginning of time, the main event will be the future of Mexico. That’s the first time I’ve ever talked about this. Listen, we have to execute, but this thing is going to be — if you are even this much Mexican, you are going to love this event on Mexican Independence Day at the Sphere. I guarantee you. It’s so badass,” White stated
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