LAS VEGAS -- The question has seemingly been asked a million times already so why not once more: Why is UFC CEO Dana White spending more than $20 million on Saturday to stage what was first known as UFC 306 before becoming Riyadh Season Noche UFC at Sphere?
It's actually not all that difficult to understand, particularly if one has followed the UFC for any length of time.
• The primary reason is a desire to develop a Mexican superstar such as Canelo Alvarez, who on Saturday will box Edgar Berlanga for the super middleweight title at T-Mobile Arena.
When White and then-partners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta purchased the UFC in 2001, White said there were three no-brainers for the company in terms of building a following: the U.S., the U.K., and Mexico. He was right for both the U.S. and the U.K., but while Mexico has been a success, it's not been to the level that White expected.
And part of that is because of the country's love for boxing. White told a story on Tuesday of how he drove past a playground in Mexico City and noticed it was outfitted with the usual playground equipment such as swings, slides and monkey bars. This playground, though, also had a boxing ring.
• The second reason is financial. The UFC is a public business with a responsibility to maximize revenues. This show already has a $23 million gate, a UFC record, and according to Sports Business Journal, sponsorship dollars for Noche UFC have more than doubled the company's previous mark for an event. A highly placed source in the company told KevinIole.com that SBJ's reporting is "probably" correct.
When I asked White if the SBJ report is accurate, he said via text, we "did the first FULL BLOWN rehearsal last night. This event is AWESOME and yes, this event is INCREDIBLY profitable."
White understands the old adage about the need to spend money to make money, and the UFC stands to make a bundle. In part, that's because for the first time, the UFC has a title sponsor. Riyadh Season is sponsoring the event and Turki Alalshikh didn't get that right cheaply.
"It’s the first time a brand has come before the letters UFC, but it’s an asset with a lot of value," Grant Norris-Jones, the UFC's executive vice president and head of global partnerships, told SBJ. "They set a strong market rate for a title, so we’ll look at that now for any partner willing to step up."
So despite the heavy costs for production, the UFC will rake in a mega-haul.
• And finally, it's an ego play. White likes to prove others wrong and do what many think couldn't be accomplished. HIs "love letter to the Mexican people," is finally at hand, and it gave him the opportunity to produce a fight card unlike any other.
Many fans, media and boxing executives laughed at the notion that a card dedicated to the Mexican people has no Mexican fighter in it. Instead at Riyadh Season Noche UFC, an American champion, Sean O'Malley, will defend his bantamweight title in the main event against a Georgian named Merab Dvalishvili who recently earned his American citizenship.
Courtesy UFC
UFC CEO Dana White, center, poses with members of his team working on Noche UFC at Sphere in Las Vegas.
While Alvarez is fighting a mismatch against a guy who didn't deserve to get such a big fight, the UFC will put on a show that figures to be extraordinarily competitive and will bring people out of their seats.
It's going to be the production, though, which garners all of the attention when it's over. It's probably going to be the lead story on SportsCenter and it's going to be talked about long into the future. White assembled an all-star team to do the show and said his goal is to win a Grammy, an Emmy and an Academy Award. The UFC is going to produce a documentary about the Sphere card.
That obviously, will have a long tail and will benefit the UFC far past the date of the event.
And that takes us back to point one. The biggest stars in UFC history have been Conor McGregor, an Irishman; Canadian Georges St-Pierre; Brazilian Anderson Silva and Americans Jon Jones, Ronda Rousey and Chuck Liddell.
Mexican Alexa Grasso will defend her belt in the trilogy fight against Valentina Shevchenko in the co-main event, but she hasn't fully captured the imagination of the masses. While ex-flyweight champion Brandon Moreno was hugely popular, he didn't win consistently enough to hit that Canelo or Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.-level of superstardom.
The UFC opened a Performance Institute in Mexico City in February, and on Saturday will put on its most lavish and expensive production ever.
They clearly hope that leads more young Mexicans choosing to start in MMA rather than boxing, and that one of them will develop into another Canelo, or a Conor or Ronda or Georges.
The importance of succeeding in Mexico can't be understated, as evidenced by spending around $100 million on the PI in Mexico City and Noche UFC.
White in 2001 said Mexico was a no-brainer and has repeated that line ever since.
Now, more than ever, he's determined to make that a reality.
Courtesy UFC
Sphere lit up advertising Noche UFC.