Dana White reveals first details of UFC 306 production plans for Sphere event
Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Dana White’s vision for UFC 306 is starting to come to light.
The UFC CEO on Tuesday revealed the first details of his production plan for the Sept. 14 event at Las Vegas’ famed Sphere venue, which White has repeatedly called “a love letter” to Mexican combat sports.
“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,” White said Tuesday on The Pat McAfee Show. “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.”
UFC 306 features a 10-fight card headlined by two title bouts, as UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley faces Merab Dvalishvili in the main event and UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso puts her belt on the line in a trilogy bout against Valentina Shevchenko. Grasso is the first Mexican UFC women’s champion and her most recent bout against Shevchenko headlined UFC’s inaugural Noche UFC event in September 2023.
The Sphere is a $2.3 billion venue that features a 160,000 square-foot 16K-resolution wraparound screen inside and generally seats between 18,000 to 20,000 people. White has touted the pay-per-view show as a one-off, due to it being the most expensive production in promotional history, with more than $17 million already spent. However, with the cheapest tickets priced in the thousands, TKO Group Holdings chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer said the event could end up producing the largest live gate in company history.
“Look, we’re bullish,” Schleimer said on an investor call in early August. “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.”
With a month to go until the big day, White is excited to show off what UFC put together, but also knows he must deliver on the spectacle he’s promised for more than a year.
“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,” White said. “I guarantee you. It’s so badass.”
