The First-Ever Sport Held at the Sphere Mixed Bloody Fighting With Special Effects
We watched UFC’s $20 million cage fight…only in Las Vegas!
It's time for the main event. From my perch in the back row of section 307, the mixed martial artists inside the caged octagon have resembled ants in combat on the floor of the Sphere. Yet I'm in sensory overload, taking in a one-night-only spectacle as a splash of beer drizzles down my chin and spilled popcorn crunches underneath my shoe. The lights go dark. The Sphere's mountain-like video wall comes to life and a lone figure is seen flying through a tunnel, over a countryside, and in between skyscrapers. Then—the Sphere taps into its greatest superpower: the illusion of movement. The audience feels the sensation of jumping off a tower, through a cloud of colorful smoke, and through a series of ultra-high-definition images before two warriors walk to the cage, music booming through the venue in clarity as sharp as the visuals. The background becomes a futuristic cityscape with digital drones buzzing overhead.
I've seen cage fighting before. But I've never seen this.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship took sports in a dramatic new direction Saturday night at the Sphere, combining immersive technology and an authentic love of Latino culture tied to Mexican Independence Day weekend. UFC 306 (or, officially, Riyadh Season Noche UFC) took full advantage of the venue’s groundbreaking special effects. It was also the first sporting event to take place inside the Sphere—and it was quite the spectacle (even if the fights themselves were a mixed bag).
It's common practice to show up fashionably late at UFC events, especially in Las Vegas. So the UFC rolled out its immersive digital enhancements sparingly at first, using the Sphere's 366-foot-tall 16K-by-16K screen as a series of animated backdrops while the early fights unfolded inside a caged Octagon on the arena floor.
The weird part upon entry: separating reality from illusion in this "Thunderdome" environment. The first two fights took place in front of simulated industrial scaffolding with the appearance of a traditional lighting rig "hanging" from the ceiling. A Wing Stop commercial was actually the first "wow moment" of the night, prompting an audible reaction as hunks of chicken shot towards the audience over a green background.
Chicken? More like peanuts compared to the effects to come.
The seats rumbled each time the background transformed—almost like a video game changing skins—first, to a circular dragon design and then a nighttime setting of Mayan temples with fire pits under a star-filled sky. The UFC could've kept it like this all night and I would've been cool with it. But then, shit got real.
As the main card started, the effects roared to a new level. The heavens opened and the audience was thrust into space as asteroids, rock formations, and imagery of hand-to-hand combat hurled overhead in 3D fashion with music and narration. It was the beginning of For Mexico, For All Time, a film by director Carlos López Estrada, presented in six 90-second segments between fights.
Other scenes showcased the dawn of civilization, rituals and traditions, resistance in the face of colonial oppression, Mexico's combat sports heroes, and the promise of the future. And what might be the future of sports at the Sphere.
But were the special effects good?
The effects were designed to enhance, not distract, from the fights themselves. The video-screen backgrounds were far more bold and immersive during the main card, beginning with smoldering Aztec ruins overrun with bright pops of greenery, while the sky came to life with a drifting moon, clouds, lightning, and eagles flying overhead. In a nice touch, the scene shifted from night to day when the winner was announced.
The backdrops continued to reflect the content in the film clips, from a historic town square to a sea of marigolds and skulls to honor Dia de los Muertos and a contemporary cityscape. "It translated well to television too," said UFC President Dana White during a post-event press conference. "People felt like it was a different experience than they get on a Saturday night for a UFC event."
To the audience at home, it almost looked like the fighters were competing outdoors, inside an ancient cathedral, or on the streets of modern-day Mexico City.
As impressive as the visuals are, the audio effects were equally integral to the experience. The Sphere uses Holoplot beam-forming technology, which transports sound to each seat in equal measure, giving clarity to the music played between bouts and during entrances. It's interesting to note that the music (or in this case, the UFC audio commentary) that plays in the lobby cuts off instantly the moment you walk through the curtain into the arena. It's a cool trick.
Possibly the most expensive single-event Sphere production thus far
The production has been a work in progress for months, although due to the Sphere's schedule, the first full tech rehearsal was only done two days before the event. Special lighting, visible from behind screen panels, was custom-created to illuminate the audience and ensure there were no shadows as the fighters battled on the canvas.
As you can imagine, producing this kind of thing isn't cheap—and unheard of for a one-off event. (The Sphere residency by U2, for example, had 40 shows to amortize the investment). The costs for the UFC’s Sphere event ballooned from $8 million to $20 million, prompting a first of its kind sponsorship by Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority to secure Riyadh Season title rights for a UFC event for the first time in history. The cage itself probably set its own record for sponsors stamped on the canvas. (I counted 15.)
Tickets went on sale in July, beginning at more than $3,000 with prices shifting dramatically due to Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing model and activity on the resale market. TickPick called UFC 306 the most expensive ultimate fighting event on record with an average purchase price of $2,871. About five days before the event, the "get-in" price was $798 with an average purchase price of $1,265. The biggest purchase was for two tickets for $5,464 each.
After the main card began, every seat appeared full with UFC President Dana White announcing a sellout of 16,024 people, setting a record for attendance at the Sphere. The gate was $22 million, adding up to the highest-grossing event for both the venue and UFC. Merchandise sales also set a record.
The future of fighting
Whether it's concerts, film presentations, or now sports, the Sphere works best as a communal experience. With ticket prices so high, you'd expect a crowd of indifferent casino whales and other members of the one-percent, but the audience appeared to be a working class crowd, dominated by loyal UFC fans and Latinos in town for the holiday weekend. They were vocal and responded to even subtle nuances inside the Octagon as the competitors grappled.
The fighters seemed up for the challenge of meeting the moment—most of them, anyway. The undercard was solid with knockout and submission finishes that brought the crowd to its feet. All five bouts on the main card went the distance with the winners announced by judges' decision, but three were action-packed, especially the dramatic come-from-behind victory of Ronaldo Rodríguez over Ode' Osbourne and the wild slugfest that saw Esteban Ribovics defeat Daniel Zellhuber. Commentator Joe Rogan called the final round of the latter one of the best in UFC history. "It's one of the best fights I've ever seen," White confirmed.
The two championship bouts that closed the show were disappointing. Valentina Shevchenko regained her Women's Flyweight Championship from Alexa Grasso in a slow battle dominated by ground-and-pound wrestling, while a game Merab Dvalishvili won the Bantamweight Championship from a reluctant-to-engage Sean O'Malley, falling short on a big stage after being positioned as the star of the show.
"You can put on $20 million worth of production, but you can't control the fights," White admitted. "They're going to be what they are."
The UFC president vows that his company's appearance at the Sphere is a "one-and-done" deal, due to not only the expense, but an agreement with MGM Resorts that locks in the T-Mobile Arena as the exclusive big-show venue for the Vegas-based fight organization. (The UFC was given permission to stray, since the T-Mobile Arena had booked a Canelo Álvarez boxing match for the same night during Mexican Independence Day weekend.)
Yet it's hard to imagine UFC never returning to the Sphere. The genie's out of the bottle and based on how well the presentation was received, the demand will always be there. If cage fighting can work inside the Sphere, it's only a matter of time before other sports give it a shot.