UFC 306 at The Sphere to Include Different ‘World’ for Each Fight

It has been well-documented that UFC
306 at The Sphere in Las Vegas will be an unprecedented event.
Now, a few more details have come to light as to what will make it
such a spectacle.

The Sphere, a $2.3 billion venue that features a 160,000 square
foot LED screen, will include a distinctly cinematic theme for UFC
306 on Sept. 14. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a film celebrating
Mexico’s contribution to combat sports will run in chapters on The
Sphere’s screen in between bouts.

“At the highest level, we were trying to think about, how do we put
on a live MMA fight — 10 fights throughout the night — and not take
away from the fight action, not take too much time in between
fights where we slow things down, but also tell this other story
about the Mexican people and their heritage and their culture,
because it’s rich and it’s deep,” UFC chief content officer Craig
Bolsari said.

The film, which will be separated into approximately 90-second
segments, will be produced in partnership with Academy Award
nominated producer and director Carlos Lòpez Estrada, who is known
for films such as Blindspotting and Raya and the Last Dragon.

The venue will also be at the forefront when the fights themselves
are happening. During each bout, a different “world” will be
projected on the LED screen. Between the film paying tribute to
Mexican combat sports culture and the different images depicted
during each bout, there will be plenty to take in throughout the
evening.

“Those would be our main drivers for storytelling, everything that
[UFC CEO Dana White] wanted to get across … those films then
transition into what we’re calling these worlds, which is like
these environments that take up the entire LED screen, that then
the fights sit within,” Borsari says. “So there’s what we call a
film and a world and an act. So there’s these acts that take you
through the entire night, and we tell the story within those
acts.”

White has repeatedly boasted about the extravagant cost for
producing an event at The Sphere. One thing is certain: It far
exceeds the $2 million that a typical UFC pay-per-view requires. “I
said, ‘I’m doing this.’ I didn’t give a s—t what the budget was,
I’m doing this,” White said. “I truly believe that this is going to
be a game changer, where sports and entertainment truly come
together for the first time ever. And I think a lot of other people
are going to see this, and I think they’re going to start to
changing the way they build these arenas.”

UFC 306 is headlined by a bantamweight championship clash between
Sean O’Malley and Merab
Dvalishvili. In the co-main event, Alexa
Grasso will defend her flyweight crown against Valentina
Shevchenko in a trilogy matchup.