Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
UFC CEO Dana White has revealed that his passion for hosting a UFC event at the spectacular Sphere in Las Vegas came from an unexpected source. RG tells why.
UFC 306 has been branded "Noche UFC" and, according to the UFC supremo, will be a "love letter to the Mexican people," with the event set to take place on Mexican Independence Day weekend, on September 14.
The confirmed fights for the event feature a host of Mexican stars, including reigning UFC women's flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, flyweight fan-favourite Ronaldo Rodriguez and teenage rising star Raul Rosas Jr. The main event will see reigning UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley put his title on the line against number-one contender Merab Dvalishvili.
But, in conversation with TNT Sports in the UK, White explained that his plans for an event at the Sphere all came about due to his original plan to host a show at T-Mobile Arena falling by the wayside, followed by a phone call from an NFL legend inviting him to a rock concert.
"The great thing about this sport is, we have our plans, we lay out the year, but things pop up and happen that we never expect," White began.
"Like, look at this thing that happened with UFC Noche. The way that this played out is we've been treated like absolute s**t for the last 20 years by the MGM, and because of that, they allowed (Al) Haymon, God bless him, to slide in and steal that date after I had it and I flipped out.
"And now, here we are with the Sphere, with the biggest, greatest sporting event of all time, which I didn't see coming and wasn't in my plans at the beginning."
White then revealed that a phone call from longtime friend and NFL all-time great Tom Brady was the man responsible for White's determination to host a UFC event in the brand new Las Vegas venue.
White is a proud Massachusetts native and a passionate supporter of the New England Patriots, and during their golden era with Tom Brady at quarterback, the UFC boss and the Pats' play-caller became firm friends.
So, when Brady picked up the phone and invited him to join him at the Sphere to check out a U2 concert, White said yes, and his experience at the state-of-the-art venue blew him away, leaving him determined to put on a spectacular UFC event at the 18,600-seat venue.
"Had Tom Brady not called me and asked me to go to U2 with him, I would have never even gone to the Sphere, and would have never seen it."
It's a remarkable story that White said demonstrates how much of the UFC's business gets done.
"The way that this whole thing played out, that's how the sport goes, you know?" he said.
"People win that you don't see coming. People become stars overnight that you don't see coming. I mean, if you look at some of these fights that have materialized, in just one event. Or a star breaks out – Khamzat Chimaev during COVID – and things like that.
"You never really know what's coming, but the rest of our year is gonna be awesome. But there's always something that's going to pop up that I don't see coming right now, like UFC Noche."
Having to deal with the unexpected is the sort of stuff that could drive business leaders crazy. But White seems to revel in the chaos. And with the UFC having a well-deserved reputation for being agile in the face of unforeseen changes and setbacks, White said that when things don't go according to plan, they often end up working out even better for the UFC.
"That's what I love about this sport," he said.
"Every day, when I wake up, crazy s**t goes down, and we have to deal with it on the fly, and it always leads to something bigger, or some other storyline, or something crazy that goes on.”
“And the beautiful thing about it is it's all real. This isn't all fake, like WWE storylines. This is real stuff, that really happens, in real time, that we deal with. It's like a never-ending soap opera, and I love every minute of it.”
Simon is a sports journalist and MMA reporter with 25+ years' experience covering sports and 15+ years covering mixed martial arts as one of the UK's longest-tenured MMA journalists. He also has more than a decade of experience working in the betting and gaming industry.
He has provided coverage for a plethora of major sports outlets, including BBC Sport, USA Today, Daily Mirror and BT Sport, and has covered Olympic Games, World Cups, FA Cup Finals and UFC title fights during his career.
