Dana White gushes over The Sphere success but shows disappointment with major title fight: "I can't let that drive me crazy"
UFC CEO Dana White played an instrumental part in orchestrating the Noche UFC 306 event at the Sphere in Las Vegas after his beef with MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) forced the organization to explore alternate options.
The event presented a captivating film in chapters honoring Mexican Independence Day. It featured stories from early civilizations to modern achievements, blending Mexican history with their rich combat heritage. This immersive visual experience ufc-lived-hype-they-gonna-win-emmy-this" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-is-sponsored="false">pushed the boundaries of storytelling and left the MMA community thoroughly impressed by the execution.
That being said, the co-main and main event failed to live up to the expectations of fans and White. Both fights featured wrestling-heavy strategies from Valentina Shevchenko and Merab Dvalishvili as they got the better of Alexa Grasso and Sean O'Malley by unanimous decisions.
Speaking about the event at the post-fight press conference, White said:
"Literally the whole thing was seamless. It went perfectly. We didn't have a lot of time to rehearse. That was our big worry coming in here but the team absolutely nailed it... I told you guys leading up to this, the way it played out, tonight was meant to happen. We did it, we killed it! I'm literally getting blown up by everybody about this event. The other thing we accomplished was it translated well on the television too. I felt like it was a different experience then they get on a normal Saturday night."
Speaking about the co-main event, White added:
"You can put on $20 million worth of production, but you can't control the fights. They're going to be what they are. So I cannot let that drive me crazy... Our fanbase grew 69% during COVID. Some people probably tuned in for the first time, hopefully they turned off before the co-main event."
Catch Dana White's comments below:
Check out White's initial thoughts below: