Something strange happened in the run-up to Noche UFC, the event’s second annual celebration of Mexico’s Independence Day. For the first time since becoming interested in MMA during the McGregor era and falling in love with the sport during the pandemic, I skipped all the traditions of UFC Fight Week. I haven’t watched an episode Embeddedand I didn’t watch Thursday’s press conference or Friday’s weigh-in. Going into Saturday, I certainly didn’t have my usual “sleep in” nerves. What is clear to me now is that my lack of enthusiasm was caused by the kind of uncertainty that led to reservation rather than curiosity.
Almost everything about Saturday night’s card left me and other fans scratching our heads, starting with its hodgepodge title: UFC 306: Noche UFC of the Season in Riyadh. Then there’s the star of the promotion. No, not homegrown, hype-machine Sean O’Malley, or even Mexico’s own Alexa Grasso, but The Sphere (or simply “the Sphere,” as it was referenced throughout the broadcast). A Mexican-inspired boxing night that somehow became a pay-per-view event in a Saudi Arabian festival series with the arena as the main attraction left me with something I couldn’t answer through the typical sights and sounds problem. Fight week. Instead, these questions are answered by the standard talent of one of the savviest combat sports promotions in WWE.
When first reported Cheapest seats in the house The cost will be over $2,000, and I wonder if the more passionate Mexican and Mexican-American boxing fans will be priced out in favor of casual enthusiasts with good salaries and corporate credit cards. That concern was put to rest when I heard the crowd cheering for Raúl Rosas Jr. as he made his way to the Octagon ahead of tonight’s first preliminaries. I asked in my best Irish accent. Who is Dafu? That’s when I discovered four fighters I’d never heard of were opening the main card. Lo and behold, these were the two most entertaining fights of the night, with Esteban Ribovich and Daniel Zelhuber winning the Fight of the Night bonus, while Ronaldo Rodriguez and Oded Osborne These bonuses can also be easily obtained. And, Sean O’Malley Asked questions to myself At one point, I noted with interest that the event was being staged with more promotion than the bantamweight champion at the time, but that quickly became ambivalent. I don’t know him, but I understand why it happened at the end of the night, because the suspense surrounding what the Sphere Sports event might have been like paid off much richer than the one-way fiasco that most educated fans correctly predicted he would be. Received in the Main Event.
But more than anything, my main question before last night was why the UFC was on The Sphere for the first and probably only time need Attending Mexico’s Independence Day? As UFC Noche approaches, my thought is that an event headlined by the eventual return of Conor McGregor or Jon Jones might make for a bigger pop culture spectacle, with less complexity from international fight weeks branding, and UFC 300 will bring simpler branding. Made the mistake of underestimatingwill allow deeper cards. Once again, the event itself convinced me of its merits in a way that never could have been matched. Embedded Or the confrontation at the press conference could have prepared me.
Noche UFC’s amazing storytelling couldn’t have been possible with any other more suitable Sphere card that I can think of. The six interstitials produced by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Carlos López Estrada’s Defying Gravity Academy perfectly take advantage of The Sphere’s immersive capabilities, by making it possible for the audience to watch the movie even on the TV screen. Images that inspire awe and take viewers into the entirety of Mexican history. Ancient civilizations, heroic freedom fighters, spiritual traditions, iconic combat athletes, and the virtues of Mexican culture are all glorified through Lucace’s light and magic. Eight first- and second-generation Mexican Octagon girls strutted their stuff in competition, wearing beautiful outfits inspired by their shared heritage.
Despite being the main event, the fight itself heightened the night’s spectacle in a way that only high-level MMA drama can, especially when it comes to celebrating a culture’s fighting spirit. Minutes into a short film that tells the story of indigenous warriors, Mexican flyweight Ronaldo Rodriguez escaped two near-finishing submissions and held on against Ode Osborne ‘ Osbourne made a unanimous decision. Then, Mexico City-born Daniel Zellhuber came up against Argentinian Esteban Ribovics with stunning speed. street fighter Button mashing, losing on the card but winning over fans like me watching him play for the first time. Despite a poor performance from former women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, I found myself seemingly on the edge of my seat every round trying to knock Valentina Shevchenko off The tap of a button becomes reality.
Similar to the previous 300, there are images from UFC 306 that will be etched in my mind for my fellow fans to remember; when I compare the names on the card to the hyperbolic hype that came before, I never could have predicted the excitement Heartfelt moments.
I don’t know if Noche UFC will become, as UFC CEO Dana White puts it, “the greatest sporting event of all time.” Promised in July. In his postgame press conference, White acknowledged that he would leave it to the public to decide whether that night lived up to that claim. Overall, I’m a little allergic to making such grand statements. But I will admit that Noche UFC was the most impressive televised sporting event I have ever witnessed, better than any Super Bowl, NBA Finals or WrestleMania I have ever seen.
It was a spectacle I couldn’t bring myself to foresee, but one I’ll never forget. If you’re still with me, scroll or click on the photos below to see what made this night so memorable.