{"id":298466,"date":"2023-11-13T16:46:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T22:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=298466"},"modified":"2023-11-15T15:00:38","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T21:00:38","slug":"ufc-first-sporting-event-to-book-las-vegas-sphere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-first-sporting-event-to-book-las-vegas-sphere\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC First Sporting Event to Book Las Vegas Sphere"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>UFC has become the Las Vegas Sphere\u2019s first sports booking. Over the weekend, UFC chief Dana White confirmed a September 16 card at the globe-shaped venue.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_298467\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-298467\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-298467 size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ufc-2-858x609.jpg\" alt=\"UFC Octagon\" width=\"858\" height=\"609\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ufc-2-858x609.jpg 858w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ufc-2-430x305.jpg 430w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ufc-2.jpg 1111w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 858px) 100vw, 858px\" \/><figcaption  id=\"caption-attachment-298467\"class=\"text-description\">A computer-generated rendering of how the UFC Octagon might look erected inside the Las Vegas Sphere. (Image: ChatGPT)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;Mexican Independence Day, we are booked for The Sphere,&#8221; White said at the UFC 295 post-fight press conference in New York. &#8220;We are already working on the creative for the show. It&#8217;s going to be a massive challenge and I love every minute of it. &#8221;<\/p>\n<p>White shared no specifics. However, using characteristic hyperbole, he promised the event would be \u201cthe greatest live combat sports show anybody has ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Fitting an Octagon into a Spherical Hole<\/h2>\n<p>White said his \u201cgreat relationship\u201d with Sphere and Madison Square Garden Company chief James Dolan helped put together the deal, though he admitted putting that relationship to the test by \u201cterrorizing him about the Sphere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an interview last month with <em>ESPN<\/em>\u2019s \u201cPat McAfee Show,\u201d the UFC chief said that seeing U2\u2019s residency there set his sights on having his company be the first to broadcast live from the $2.3 billion venue.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\"><p><strong>Over the last few weeks, I have become obsessed with the Sphere,\u201d<\/strong> White said, adding that he had his entire production crew check out &#8220;U2:UV Achtung Baby,&#8221; just so they can conceive of ideas for visuals to envelop the Octagon as it stands front and center in the world\u2019s largest domed theater.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m telling you right now, this place is incredible,\u201d White told McAfee.<\/p>\n<p>UFC has held the majority of its cards in Las Vegas since its first at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in 2001. Its next, the welterweight title fight between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington, will held be at T-Mobile Arena on December 16.<\/p>\n<p>This year, UFC\u2019s Mexican Independence Day event, also at T-Mobile, was headlined by a women&#8217;s flyweight championship bout between titleholder Alexa Grasso and former champion Valentina Shevchenko. The fight ended in a split draw, with Grasso retaining her title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UFC has become the Las Vegas Sphere\u2019s first sports booking. Over the weekend, UFC chief Dana White confirmed a September 16 card at the globe-shaped venue. &#8220;Mexican Independence Day, we are booked for The Sphere,&#8221; White said at the UFC 295 post-fight press conference in New York. &#8220;We are already working on the creative for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":298467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3313,81886,82964],"tags":[82250,88746,83447,88747,88745,83667,81987],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UFC First Sporting Event to Book Las Vegas Sphere - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UFC has become the Las Vegas Sphere\u2019s first sports booking. Over the weekend, UFC chief Dana White confirmed a September 16 card at the globe-shaped\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-first-sporting-event-to-book-las-vegas-sphere\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UFC First Sporting Event to Book Las Vegas Sphere - Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UFC has become the Las Vegas Sphere\u2019s first sports booking. Over the weekend, UFC chief Dana White confirmed a September 16 card at the globe-shaped\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-first-sporting-event-to-book-las-vegas-sphere\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-13T22:46:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-15T21:00:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ufc-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1111\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"788\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Corey Levitan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Corey Levitan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-first-sporting-event-to-book-las-vegas-sphere\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-first-sporting-event-to-book-las-vegas-sphere\/\",\"name\":\"UFC First Sporting Event to Book Las Vegas Sphere - Casino.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-first-sporting-event-to-book-las-vegas-sphere\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ufc-first-sporting-event-to-book-las-vegas-sphere\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ufc-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-13T22:46:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T21:00:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/281fd7b5480c9afb75e84ffb75039f09\"},\"description\":\"UFC has become the Las Vegas Sphere\u2019s first sports booking. 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