UFC 306, also referred to as “Noche UFC,” lived as much as the hype — manufacturing smart — final Saturday evening (Sept. 16, 2024) inside The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dana White’s “love letter to Mexican folks” was a feast for the eyes, offering combat followers with a six-chapter story informed by wonderful visuals unfold all around the venue’s large, over-sized screens.
The Final Combating Championship (UFC) CEO is adamant the promotion spent over $20 million to make this one-time spectacle occur in “Sin Metropolis,” however there may be an excellent larger occasion looming across the nook. That’s in accordance with Skilled Fighters (PFL) League co-founder, Donn Davis, who says that not solely is the upcoming “Battle of the Giants” pay-per-view (PPV) occasion extra intriguing so far as fights are involved, it’s going to value him and his crew more cash to placed on that “Noche UFC” did Dana White.
“I believe you’ve essentially the most attention-grabbing males’s combat, and essentially the most attention-grabbing girls’s combat [of the year],” Davis informed the New York Publish (by way of MMA Combating). “So, to begin with, I imagine that is the largest occasion attainable in MMA due to the co-mains, this yr in 2024, and that makes it, definitely, the largest factor for PFL,” he added.
“The UFC is the larger firm, however we’re placing on the larger occasion. So it is a massive deal for us. Our No. 1 metric is placing on the very best high quality MMA combat for followers on the planet. We need to present followers that we are able to placed on simply nearly as good, or higher of a product than anybody else on the planet. That’s metric No. 1.
“Metric No. 2, we need to do OK financially, simply OK financially. The price of this combat is astronomical. Dana White talks about his $20 million Sphere occasion, that is extra. Fighters make extra, the cardboard right here has extra massive fights coming. This value to us is greater than his value to the Sphere.”
When requested about Davis’ feedback throughout final evening’s Contender Collection occasion, White’s reply was brief and candy.
“I didn’t even know who he was till you stated it,” White responded. “Seems like a good suggestion. Good for him. Good luck, hope all of it works out.”
A lot was stated in regards to the lack of motion in each the principle and co-main occasions at UFC 306 — which featured Merab Dvalishvili and Valentina Shevchenko dethroning Sean O’Malley and Alexa Grasso from their divisions, respectively — loads of the intrigue for the occasion needed to do with what the promotion had up its sleeve, manufacturing smart. Regardless of dwelling as much as the hype and seemingly turning a revenue, White and Co. don’t have any plans to return to the state-of-the-art venue for an additional occasion anytime quickly.
As for PFL’s “Battle of the Giants” occasion — which is about to go down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Oct. 19, 2024 — it will likely be spearheaded by an enormous Heavyweight bout between former UFC 265-pound champion, Francis Ngannou, making his highly-awaited debut for the promotion since signing with them over a yr in the past. He can be going through off towards division champion, Renan Ferreira, who might make as much as $2 million for the combat, whereas “The Predator” is anticipated to make considerably extra.
Within the co-main occasion, Bellator’s girls’s Featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg, will battle Larissa Pacheco, whereas Middleweight king, Johnny Eblen, will defend his belt for the second time towards Fabian Edwards. Kicking off the principle card can be a Light-weight bout between A.J. McKee and Paul Hughes.
Whereas there isn’t any phrase on simply how a lot all the primary card fighters command in wage, Davis is adamant that is without doubt one of the key elements that may put the occasion over the $20 million value. Curiously sufficient, each occasions are in partnership with Turki Alalshikh.
