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'The greatest live combat sports show': UFC's Dana White books Sphere for 2024 event

Dana White and Sphere
Posted at 2:41 PM, Nov 24, 2023

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Could the Ultimate Fighting Championship be heading to Sphere? According to UFC President Dana White, it is.

During a post-fight press conference earlier this month, White said he had booked the venue for September 2024.

"Mexican Independence Day is booked at Sphere and we are working on creative for the show," White said. "It will be a massive challenge and I love every minute of it. Everybody keeps saying to me I don't understand how you're going to put an Octagon in there. I don't understand how you're going to do this. I don't understand how you're going to do that. Remember I said this tonight, I'm going to put on the greatest live combat sports show anybody has ever seen."

White said he has "become obsessed with Sphere".

"I went and saw the U2 concert and I'm blown away by this venue," White said on The Pat McAfee Show. "I actually have my entire production staff and team going to the U2 concert to walk the place. I want to be one to do the first live transmission out of the Sphere. This place is incredible."

When asked about the timeline of putting everything together, White said that's why the team is planning on September 2024.

"The thing I love about doing it next September is it gives us enough time to figure out how to pull this thing off and how we can do it better than it's ever been done," White said. "If there's ever a fight you ever went to, that's the one to go to."

Sphere has a seated capacity of 17,500 and standing room capacity for 20,000. That's in line with attendance numbers at Noche UFC, which was held on Sept. 16 at T-Mobile Arena and brought in 18,766 fans.

RELATED LINK: Sphere CEO: Robots, holographs part of new show, residencies to be announced

Sphere officials have previously told Channel 13 they plan to expand their programming to include sporting events and the venue received international attention for their displays during the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Channel 13 reached out to Sphere officials to confirm the UFC fight and learn more details. As of Friday afternoon, we have not heard back.