UFC 306 at the Las Vegas Sphere wasn’t just a historic event for MMA—it also attracted a star-studded guest list like no other. A $2.3 billion venue, hosting a grand PPV over the Mexican Independence Day weekend, with Emmy award winning producers; this is the kind of stuff deities showed up for during the Aztec empire.
So, naturally, people with more zeroes to their bank accounts than most teenagers can count were present to witness the spectacle. From a host of billionaires including Jeff Bezos to musician Chris Brown, to NBA stars, NFL players, and powerful CEOs were seen enjoying the violent display in front of them.
The most prominent among the names spotted in the crowd was Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, worth a whopping $204 billion. This is the first time in recent memory that Bezos has attended a UFC event.
Also in attendance was NBA champion Jamal Murray with the Denver Nuggets. Comedians Steve-O and Andrew Schulz who are regular fixtures at the UFC events were also present for the promotion’s big debut at the Sphere.
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Other big names included behemoths of the boxing world such as Eddie Hearn and Turki Alalshikh. Also in attendance was Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, the parent company to ESPN, UFC’s official broadcaster.
Needless to say, the event was staked with some of the biggest names in the world of entertainment, business and sports. Thankfully, the PPV was every bit as epic as Dana White had advertised, the graphics, the storyline and the overall production is something fans have never seen before in live sports, not just the UFC. However, this might be the very last time this is done.
The Sphere one and done after UFC306?
Dana White had stated from the outset that UFC 306 would be a one and done. After the exhausting preparation for the event, the UFC president had claimed that due to the exorbitant costs involved, this is not something the organization could do every time.
The promotion had invested so much money into the event that they were selling their cheapest tickets for UFC 306 at $3000, a move that horribly backfired. The cost involved the return on investment in such a project is an extremely high risk endeavor and White doesn’t need to do that, unless he’s got someone like Conor McGregor headlining a PPV.
While nobody actually knows if the UFC had a profit or loss on his event, it is safe to assume that even if they did make a profit it might not have been heavy enough to change White’s mind.
That said, the UFC president has changed his stance on a number of issues over the years and seeing how the event has played out, he might change his mind to come back to the Sphere at least once in a year.
