Was the UFC at the Sphere the “greatest live sporting event of all time”?

On September 14, the UFC hosted its first-ever card at the coveted Sphere venue in Las Vegas—UFC 306. Constructed last year in September, the arena has primarily been the host of concerts and interactive experience films. Apart from its 580,000 square-foot exterior LED display, which is its main selling point, the Sphere boasts the most detailed indoor screen in the world, with an unprecedented 16K resolution. The UFC’s booking of the Sphere was especially impactful to the history of the venue, being the first ever sporting event held in it and the first in the Sphere to be held live.

“This [event] will never be replicated,” said UFC president Dana White in an interview with Shannon Sharpe, referring to future events by other companies at the Sphere. White would not stop singing its praises in the months leading up to the event. In almost every post-fight press conference or podcast interview, he would boast about its $20 million production or the Oscar-winning backstage crew handling the pay-per-view broadcast. The only thing that wasn’t emphasized in the buildup to the card was the fights themselves.

The September 14th show date gave the opportunity for the UFC to theme the Sphere card around an ode to Mexican culture and Mexican Independence Day. The only issue came from the lack of current Mexican stars. The promotion wanted to tap into a market revolving around just one star, women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso. Although Grasso headlined last year’s Mexican Independence Day card, the card was not a pay-per-view event and was free to those with ESPN+, a far stretch from the grand spectacle at the Sphere. Her low level of name recognition, lack of marketability as a fighter, and overall quiet personality made it hard to justify her headlining a monumental event on her own. As a result, the UFC brought in rising superstar and bantamweight champion American Sean O’Malley to defend his belt against Georgian Merab Dvalishvili as the main event. In essence, two non-Mexican fighters were headlining what was billed to be the Mexican Independence Day card. 

Issues with the card did not stop there. Aside from the last three fights, none of the other fights featured a single ranked fighter, despite the UFC having two ranked Mexican fighters in former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno and former interim featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez. The card Dana White hyped up for months as a once-in-a-lifetime event was built around fights with almost zero name recognition to a casual audience. It would be a tough sell for the average fan to attend a UFC event priced on the venue rather than the fights.

Two weeks removed from the event date, the UFC was struggling to sell tickets in the Sphere, with a minimum price of $757 for seats in the nosebleeds. The irony lies in a card dedicated to the Mexican people outpricing its target demographic. “Mexican people will go out and work hard all week and then spend most of their paycheck to support their families and other Mexicans whether they’re performers, fighters or competing in something,” said Dana White in an interview with Pat McAfee, acknowledging the average working class Mexican as their main audience for this event. However, White failed to consider that the boxing event across the street, headlining unified boxing champion and Mexican icon Canelo Alvarez, offered tickets starting at $300, half of the cost of the Sphere’s cheapest seats. The vast majority of Mexican combat sports fans would not pass up the opportunity to watch one of the greatest boxers and most famous Mexican athletes ever for a UFC event not even headlined by a Mexican fighter. The event failed to deliver a card that Mexican fans could watch live and failed to deliver a stacked pay-per-view event. But the one thing it did not fail to deliver was the spectacle.

The production of the event did live up to the bar set by the UFC, making White’s words not just hyperbole. During the main card, the interior screen would play a two-minute CG film before the fighters would walk out. The six films highlighted the accomplishments of the Aztec civilization, the traditions of the Day of the Dead, the fight for Mexican independence, and a celebration of influential Mexican figures. The ring girls were dressed in elaborate costumes that coincided with the short films. The seats provided haptic feedback in response to the strikes from the fights. The most impressive graphic was a galaxy-themed tale-of-the-tape for the two fighters in the main event, having their models rendered to look like constellations. Even some of the UFC’s greatest detractors had to praise how revolutionary the event was in structure and environment. But what about those watching at home? What was their experience? In the nicest way possible, it was just like every other pay-per-view.

The films must have been breathtaking to witness in 16K resolution, however, its wonder never translated to the viewers’ screen at home. Despite White’s Oscar-winning crew, the production quality of the prelims was below standard. The stage lights had yet to be set up and the audio was registering a buzzing noise and drilling sound throughout the entire first fight. For the average pay-per-view viewer at home who doesn’t pay much attention to the events in between fights, the short films were extremely forgettable. The fans at home were focused on the main attraction at these events: the fights. Yet the outcome of the fights could not have been any worse. 

Both of the defending champions that night had lost their belts in underwhelming title fights. It seemed as if the UFC was banking on the success of O’Malley to be their next Conor McGregor and Alexa Grasso to continue tapping into the lucrative Mexican market. These unrealistic expectations were ultimately invalidated. O’Malley’s opponent, #1 ranked bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili, was known for his heavy grappling style, inhuman levels of cardio, and his lack of ability to knock out or submit his opponents. His style lends to dominant wins and an impressive resume, defeating three former UFC champions, yet also a lack of excitement when watching the played-out, steady fights. During the fight, Dvalishvili successfully evaded O’Malley’s power shots and blitzed into a takedown, opting to minimize risk and focus on holding O’Malley up against the fence so he could not work in striking range. O’Malley’s chances of winning dwindled rapidly as the rounds went on and he continued to get smothered by Dvalishvili’s top control, peppering ground-and-pound, and half-hearted guillotine choke attempts. In a sport where anything could happen, it is almost a guarantee that Merab “The Machine” will not finish a fight on the ground unless his opponent has completely gassed out. By no means was it the worst fight of all time, but it under-delivered in terms of its lack of that sitting-at-the-edge-of-the-seat excitement that combat sports fans know and love, especially considering the special glitz and glamor of the event.

 The comain’s outcome was even worse. Alexa Grasso and former flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko landed a total of 63 significant strikes across 25 minutes, making it their most uneventful bout in their trilogy. In their two prior bouts, Shevchenko’s greatest asset was her wrestling, being able to take down Grasso almost at will. In their previous contests, Grasso’s pressure striking deterred Shevchenko from shooting, a main reason why the fight was more competitive. Unfortunately, that ability to find her striking range was not on display at the Sphere. The only stand-out moments Grasso had in her bout were a couple of submission attempts, which Shevchenko easily survived, controlling Grasso on the ground for the rest of the fight. Despite having better control of her opponent, Shevchenko had attempted less ground-and-pound strikes than Merab, leading to a majority of the fight spent on the ground with no sign of a finish in sight.

The rest of the card was a disaster for the Mexican fighters that were meant to be highlighted. Out of the eight fights that featured Mexican fighters, only two Mexicans won their bouts. It was not all bad for them as even in defeat, the Mexican fighters still managed to represent the fighting spirit they are famous for. The second fight on the main card between the two Latino prospects, Mexican Daniel Zellhuber and Argentinian Esteban Ribovics, was the greatest round of the year. With the score being tied heading into the third round, both fighters were willing to risk it all in the remaining five minutes. Zellhuber knocked down Ribovics with a clean straight right and was on track to secure a third victory for Mexico that night. But Ribovics was not going down without leaving everything he had in the cage as he knocked down Zellhuber with his own right hand and proceeded to unload hooks to his head and body for an entire minute. The Mexican survived to hear the final horn, showing the lack of quit and willingness to risk losing a fight to entertain the masses. Despite Zellhuber and Ribovics doing their best to save the card, it was still the worst showcase of Mexican talent the UFC has had since starting the Mexican-themed cards. Prospects such as Manuel Torres and Yazmin Jauregui were finished in brutal fashion, and former title challenger Irene Aldana sustained a bloody beatdown for fifteen minutes. Even one of the prospects who did win, 19-year-old Raul Rosas Jr., had done so in another boring bout, a layup fight where he was meant to showcase his skills.

But none of that ever mattered to White. Expected to be fuming as his golden boy O’Malley lost his belt in an anti-climactic fashion, White was rather pleased with how the event turned out and did not ridicule the performances of Dvalishvili or Shevchenko as harshly. Instead, White focused on the experience at the Sphere being a complete success. “My production crew, with what these guys did tonight, we should be stepping over Emmy’s at the office,” said White at the UFC 306 post-fight press conference. 

The UFC absolutely succeeded in pushing the standards in terms of what is possible for sporting events. Dana White proved that he set the expectations for bigger sporting events in the future, implementing new technologies and enhancing the live experience with more advanced venues. As a UFC card, it exceeded expectations in some areas yet severely disappointed in others.