UFC president Dana White can’t stop thinking about with Las Vegas’ newest entertainment venue, known as the ‘Sphere.’ He is “obsessed.”
The Sphere, located at the Venetian Resort, first lit up its exosphere on the 4th of July. It opened its doors for the first-ever event inside the Sphere with a U2 concert on the last weekend of September and POV videos from the first few nights were truly remarkable with visuals that will take your breath away and leave your mind blown.
The giant glowing ball of LED lights immediately took over Sin City and captivated the world. As cool as it is, attending an event at one of the world’s coolest venues commands record-setting parking prices, and charges frustratingly expensive prices for drinks upon entry.
That doesn’t even include the price of the ticket itself, which are rather costly.
When a concert is not taking place on weekends at the Sphere, it shows a breath-taking 50-minute film from Darren Aronofsky, the Oscar-nominated director of ‘Black Swan’ and ‘The Whale.’ It costs at least $89 plus fees to sit in the far back of the auditorium.
Dana White has his eyes on the Sphere.
Although the Sphere was not built for sports, it has become a viral sensation over the last few months. Some big players within the sports industry want to get involved. White is among them.
He wants to host a UFC event at the Sphere, which can seat up to 18,600 people. In fact, he “f—— guarantees” that he will “put on the greatest live combat sports event anybody has ever seen at the Sphere in September for Mexican Independence Day.”
His goal is to be the first live event from the Sphere.
If the Sphere is smart, they don’t let anybody go in there until we go in there to do a live event. The first live transmission from there should be us, and that’s why I’m saying September.
Obviously because I want it for Independence Day, but it’ll take that long for us to really work this thing out and figure it out. Plus, you know I will spend the money to make it right.
— Dana White on The Pat McAfee Show
Other companies, like Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, have pitched the idea of an event at the Sphere. White is not concerned with boxing. He hopes that the Sphere’s ownership will hold out for the UFC to get things right.
These boxing guys are calling them up going, ‘Oh, we want to do a fight over there.’ Those f—— guys, they’re not going to spend the money to put a f—— show on there. Those guys can’t even do f—— replays for Christ’s sake.
They think they’re going to f—— put on an event at the Sphere? The Sphere is a whole other level and basically, in my opinion, I don’t run the Sphere and it’s not my company, but it’s so good that for the first at least year, they should do nothing but incredible experiences.
Boxing is going to f— around with them on the tickets. They don’t have the money to do it. None of those bums got the money to do it. I’ll do it.
— Dana White on The Pat McAfee Show
The 54-year-old cannot get the Sphere off of his mind. White is determined to bring a UFC Fight Night to the newest venue in Vegas.
If White can pull it off, it would be one of the greatest live events in history. The LED screen, coupled with the violence inside of the octagon, would be insane. Fingers crossed!