UFC CEO Dana White is pulling out all the stops as he prepares to put on an unforgettable show at UFC 306, and he revealed that an old friend provided the inspiration to put on an event at the Sphere.
The new state-of-the-art venue in Las Vegas will play host to “Noche UFC” on Saturday, September 14, with Sean O’Malley putting his bantamweight title on the line against top contender Merab Dvalishvili.
And White has revealed that his friendship with now-retired NFL legend Tom Brady set the ball rolling on the UFC’s plans to host a show at the Sphere.
As reported by RG.org, White told TNT Sports, “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 explained how an out-of-the-blue phone call from longtime friend Brady led to White experiencing the Sphere for the first time, and sparked his determination to hold a UFC show in the unique 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,” he said.
“The way that this whole thing played out, that’s how the sport goes, you know?
“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.”
