‘Rainforest Cafe’ UFC Sphere ‘Looked F*cking Great But The Product Is Sh*t’

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

Brendan Schaub admits he was triggered by Noche UFC at UFC 306.

The big highly-anticipated love letter to Mexico inside the Las Vegas Sphere has come and gone. It was certainly a sight to behold, whether on TV or in person, surely more for the latter. For that reason, some viewers, like Schaub, simply were disappointed beyond belief with UFC’s historic feat inside the billion-dollar LED dome.

“What Dana White wanted to achieve, they crushed it,” Schaub said on his YouTube channel (h/t MMA Junkie). “From the whole Sphere thing, first time ever pulling this off, they crushed it. The presentation was great. It’s not even all that. That’s not my issue. My issue is the product I paid to watch was not great because it wasn’t a pay-per-view-worthy card. Because the belle of the ball is the Sphere, what you’re paying for, unless you’re in person, it ain’t that great. It just wasn’t. And the main and co-main event, boy, did the UFC gamble, and they lost.”

As noted by Schaub, the final two title tilts atop UFC 306 didn’t deliver Fight of the Year contenders, but dominant performances from both challengers, Merab Dvalishvili and Valentina Shevchenko. Both fighters won unanimous decisions against the now-former champions, Sean O’Malley and Alexa Grasso.

A big detraction from UFC 306 pre-fight was the 10-fight line up for fans. The PPV label on the event was argued to largely be for the spectacle that the event was more than the overall card. Ultimately, that’s what the former UFC Heavyweight contender, Schaub, couldn’t stand about the event.

Does anyone remember the Rainforest Cafe?

“You know what the Sphere is? It’s Rainforest Cafe,” Schaub said. “It looks f*cking great, but the product is sh*t. As a kid, I loved Rainforest Cafe. It looks f*cking sick. It’s got animals and sounds and mist, and you’re like, ‘I’m in a jungle.’ But then you get your f*cking macaroni, and it’s horrendous, and you’re waiting around forever.

“The UFC doing events at the Sphere is like, I hate to tell you guys, but spoiler: Rainforest Cafe is out of business,” he concluded. “UFC doing events like this is no different than Rainforest Cafe. What it comes down to is you’re there for a good meal, not the atmosphere.”