UFC 306 at The Sphere, aka Noche UFC, on September 14 in Las Vegas is right around the corner. The annual championship doubleheader is the promotion’s multimillion-dollar pay-per-view (PPV) spectacle celebrating Mexican Independence. While there are some reservations around the UFC 306 Noche card, it’s unique, to say the least.
Noche UFC will be a one-of-a-kind event – a “love letter” from the UFC to the Mexican fighters and their contribution to combat sports. For an unparalleled viewing experience, the event will take place in an arena with state-of-the-art audio/video capabilities. However, that is not where the buck stops with how unique it is to be. Here’s a brief look into five such aspects going into this weekend’s events.
1. Real star of the show is the stage itself
With the cost of staging the event scaling the $20 million mark, many wonder if everything will go according to plan. Dana White admits there have been challenges in the project that kicked off on an $8 million budget. White, UFC chief content officer Craig Borsari, and the production team visited the MSG ‘Sphere’ for test shots. The UFC bossman emphasized rehearsing pre-production for it.
Sphere’ itself a never-before-seen attraction for UFC 306 (Source: news3lv.com)These include a 16K LED wrap-around display for a totally immersive viewing experience. An incredible audio system designed to provide HOLOPLOT-supported sound to each fan in the stadium. Subsequently, also a 4-D seating system with live tactile feedback. UFC production has done test runs along with the boss on how the LED-panel dome would work and how far it would reach.
2. Geography is a thing…
The UFC 306 (Noche UFC) event is all about Mexico. Under the watchful funding of the Saudi GEA, the card will have ten fights with many native staples. Flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, out of Mexico, will fight in the PPV co-main event in a first-ever trilogy for women. Although from Georgia, headlining No. 1-ranked contender, Merab Dvalishvili has done his part to imbibe the Mexican culture.
Noche event to pay tribute to Mexico as an emerging MMA powerhouse (Source: Instagram/heavy.com/X)Even Diego Lopes and Brian Ortega are honorary links to the country’s heritage. Nevertheless, there’s more, as chief content officer Borsari tells THR (Hollywood Reporter) that there will be much at the forefront other than just fights. The plan is to run a film told in chapters celebrating Mexico’s contribution to combat sports. These will be 360-degree 90-second interlude films celebrating staples of the sport.
Glenn Weiss, infamous for leading live TV events like the Oscars and Emmys, and Academy Award-nominee director Carlos Lopez Estrada are involved. As for the fights themselves, Borsari says each occurs in a different “world” projected onto the giant curved LED panel. Films and locations that tell a larger story, celebrating Mexico and its people.
3. We fight in the ring, not outside
UFC 306, the annual “Noche UFC” comes head-to-head with Mexican pro boxer – WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight titleholder Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. He fights on the same date across town. The inaugural Noche UFC took place last year on September 17 at the T-Mobile Arena. This meant Alvarez had to wait until 30th September to fight Jermell Charlo at the same spot.
The UFC 306 Noche card will be magnet to big names in media and combat sports (Source: ringtv.com/express.com)This time, though, White and the UFC were not lucky, as the Mexican boxing icon booked the T-Mobile before them. An anchor MGM tenant, White, and UFC got quite a hiccup in steps. However, he mentioned that Canelo remains a big part of the celebration and will even be in the 90-second mini-movies. There is no division and only celebration this time, even if it comes in the form of a competitor.
4. History in the making
When yet another annual Noche UFC rolls in, it’s a high-stakes affair. Valentina Shevchenko challenges Grasso for championship gold in the first-ever women’s trilogy. WMMA G.O.A.T. Amanda Nunes was expected to be the first trilogy. She has had a substantial history with Julianna Peña over and beyond the course of their two scraps. However, ‘The Lioness’ called it quits after defeating Irene Aldana last year.
UFC 306 Noche card features first-ever women’s trilogy (Source: Instagram-threads.net › @ufc)Now, it’s ‘Bullet’ and the Mexican champ out of Guadalajara, Jalisco Grasso, who fights. The duo have had a history of their own. Grasso defeated Shevchenko with an R4 face crank submission in March last year. Then, they ran it back at the inaugural Noche, which ended in a split draw. Now, the UFC’s first-ever women’s trilogy bout will have the greatest setting ever, which might never happen again.
5. A history book has many chapters…
The first women’s trilogy is not the end of it. The Frostbite™ – EA SPORTS™ UFC® 5 Video game has added the ‘Sphere’ as a playable venue. Unlike pre-fight Fight Week content, this goes live after the UFC 306 (Noche UFC) card. Along with the usual patches and gameplay updates, as well as in-game enhancements, there’s also thematic in-game cosmetic changes.
UFC 306 PPV to have other attractions and possibilities (Source: bloodyelbow.com/X)In honor of Mexican Independence Day, select UFC® 5 fighters will receive UFC 306 fight gear when ‘Sphere’ is the playable venue. Additionally, a handful of staple fighters will add alter egos to their repertoire. The video game updates began September 10 at 1 p.m. ET. Gameplay alter egos include:
—Cain Velasquez (UFC 166)
—Alexa Grasso (UFC 285)
—Yair Rodriguez (UFC Fight Night 139)
—Brandon Moreno (UFC 263)
This isn’t the only unique media turn during the UFC 306 Noche event.
Additionally, there will be two separate media trucks in addition to the regular A- and B-unit fight trucks. To manage the media, the promotion has hired a director and a cinematographer. White plans to bank on the UFC 306 recordings as a media package he can monetize post-fight. So, in essence, fans can visit the venue and have a whole haptic experience, watching the fight again.
Honorable mentions
It’s a high-stakes game all around. Merab Dvalishvili has been gunning for that gold for a while now. Grasso and Shevchenko are also keen to resolve it with a trilogy. Additionally, it’s a double duty on the ground for Diego Lopes. He fights in the third last fight of the UFC 306 Noche main card. The BJJ specialist plans to corner close friend Grasso right after.
Some coaches like Eric Albarracin, Eric Nicksick, and others have had double duty before. Fighters with unusual aura (here’s looking at Alex Pereira) have sat down to watch fights after their scraps. However, if Lopes manages to take damage and make it as cornerman just a fight after, it’ll be quite something.
Much more will be at stake as well (Source: ibtimes.com/X/complex.com)It’s also a very high-stakes road to the title shot for Norma Dumont and Aldana. Dumont has won seven of her last eight outings and is on a 4-0 winning streak. Aldana’s only losses since 2018 came to champs Raquel Pennington, Nunes, and Holly Holm. So she’s quite closely hedging to a title contention at all times.
Hence, their UFC 306 PPV matchup could easily be considered a title-eliminator floater. The only wrinkle is No. 2 ranked Bantamweight Ketlen Vieira facing No. 3 Kayla Harrison just a card later for the top spot. However, if either fails to garner proper backing for a title shot from the champ, Dumont and Aldana enter the foray as top challenges in historic scraps. As such, every little tidbit is of hefty implications.
