‘Absolutely nailed it’: UFC 306 production at Sphere deemed a success

UFC president Dana White said he couldn’t be happier with how UFC 306, the first live sporting event at Sphere, played out Saturday.

“The whole thing was seamless; it went perfect,” White said during a postfight news conference. “We didn’t have a lot of time to rehearse — that was our big worry coming in here. But the team absolutely nailed it.”

White said the crew that put on the Mexican Independence Day weekend event didn’t have its first full rehearsal inside Sphere until Thursday.

The event drew a sold-out crowd of 16,024 and a record $22 million gate, according to White.

“It was the highest-grossing UFC event, it was the highest-grossing event at the Sphere, and we broke our record for No. 1 merch sales in UFC history,” White said.

‘Wildly ambitious’

The ESPN crew basically produced two shows at once. One production crew focused on the fights, while the other dealt with the content running on the exosphere and interior screen at Sphere.

Of the four broadcast trucks parked behind Sphere, two were dedicated to handling fight-related content and another focused on content displayed on the Sphere’s screens, including virtual worlds shown during fights and 90-second mini-films between bouts.

“Producing and directing a UFC fight is not the easiest thing in the world,” Glenn Jacobs, vice president of production for ESPN, said while watching his crew produce the fight. “We have the experts who are doing that in the fight truck. Then we have the screens truck. They are directing the movies and the wall and the in between stuff. The level of complexity of when one truck takes over, then the other truck takes over is unreal. We’ve literally been in these two trucks for 18 hours the last two days.”

The crews had 45 camera angles to choose from, more than double the 20 cameras used during a typical UFC event.

Once the card began, the production crews worked nonstop for at least six hours.

“We get one crack at this,” Jacobs said. “The degree of tightrope walking on this, I just think it’s wildly ambitious.”

‘This is unreal’

Carl Sellers, a fan from Chino, California, couldn’t believe his eyes as he watched the fights from Section 400, the highest point at Sphere. He was watching the fights in a wheelchair after he broke his leg during an accident at work.

“This is my first time at a UFC fight, and it’s my first time at the Sphere, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go to a UFC fight again, because how they mashed (Sphere and UFC) together is unbelievable,” Sellers said.

Sellers said he bought his ticket about two weeks ago after White said the event probably would be the UFC’s only one at Sphere because of the cost — more than $20 million — to produce it.

White reiterated that during the postfight news conference. Along with the cost, the UFC has an exclusive deal to stage its larger cards in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena, which is partially owned by MGM Resorts. T-Mobile was host to the Canelo Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga boxing card Saturday as part of Mexican Independence Day weekend.

Sellers said he had high expectations for Sphere but that nothing could have prepared him for the spectacle that was UFC 306.

“Definitely surpassed my expectations,” he said. “I’m super over-stimulated, but I’m loving it. The graphics and technology are unbelievable. I don’t want to leave.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.