Canelo Álvarez was featured in his first Las Vegas fight in 2010 when he was just 19 years old. Since then, Álvarez has become the main event superstar during important weekends that draw big Mexican fans — Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16.
The Jalisco native will once again headline the Mexican Independence Day weekend fight card at T-Mobile Arena, the same venue where UFC president Dana White wanted to host UFC Night.
Seeking to commemorate the “Mexican fighting spirit,” White wanted T-Mobile Arena for his event on Saturday — the same date as Álvarez’s bout. While White said he had no interest in going head-to-head with Álvarez’s evening, he is determined to develop his card on one of the two dates the Mexican boxer hosts Las Vegas fights and is going to host a competing fight night Saturday at the Sphere.
“I understand that Canelo and other great Mexican fighters have had these dates for years, but it’s two dates. … You have Cinco de Mayo and independence day, you know what I mean? I’ll take one of them. Period,” White said during an interview with L.A. Times en Español.
El presidente de UFC, Dana White, quiere quitarle una de las dos fechas que regularmente recurre Canelo Álvarez en Las Vegas: el Cinco de Mayo o el Día de la Independencia de México.
It won’t be the first time UFC and Canelo compete during the same night. In 2019, Canelo was facing Sergey Kovalev at MGM Garden Grove Arena in Las Vegas and, because of a decision by DAZN, the headlining bout was delayed for a little more than an hour. Fans waiting for the Canelo fight could watch UFC 244, which pitted Jorge Masvidal against Nate Diaz at New York’s Madison Square Garden, on the big screens.
During a news conference in July, White was irritated he could not book T-Mobile Arena after it was confirmed for Álvarez. But he said his issue was more with MGM, which operates the venue, and not Álvarez’s team.
“I’m not upset with Canelo or [Al] Haymon or any of those guys. I’m upset with those guys that run the arena,” White said. “They didn’t have enough class to call us and say ‘Hey, these people are going for this date and they’re doing this’ or whatever. It’s about respect with these guys. It’s not even an issue, it is what it is.”
White then shifted his focus to trying to leverage all the multimedia opportunities at the Sphere, a venue known for the ability to display lights and other digital elements above and surrounding the audience for an immersive experience.
The UFC 306 fight card featuring many Mexican fighters will cost in excess of $20 million, according to White, and promises to be a unique event.
“I’m far from upset, believe me, I’ve dealt with these for over 20-something years and I’m actually glad it happened, it’s perfect because it led to us being here,” White said.
He was inspired to bring UFC to the Sphere after watching U2 perform in concert. White said he called UFC vice president Craig Borsari after the show, telling him the rest of the team needed to visit the venue because White was sure they would like it as much as he did.
Borsari immediately got to work on production and logistics work.
UFC had to figure out how to create ideal visual effects and where to place the octagon along with lighting, audio, executing transitions from one fight to the next and more. To take advantage of the Sphere’s 160,000 square feet of screens around the ring and 16,000 x 16,000 resolution — the highest resolution LED screen in the world, Borsari collaborated with Mexican director Carlos López Estrada.
“We had a process to identify a director who would fit this project and we talked to a lot of groups, a lot of directors and Carlos, along with Valerie Bush, really stood out as people who had a real passion for this project,” Borsari said. “They obviously had the talent pool and the experience to produce high-level content.”
During the evening, the film “For Mexico, For All Time” will be screened in six chapters, featuring the past, present and future of Mexico. The film will be narrated by Mexican actor Gael García Bernal.
“When the project was presented to him, he was fascinated. Gael immediately understood the purpose of the film and because of his career and ability, we knew he was the right person,” Estrada said. “He likes sports, even his latest project has to do with boxing. They were very clear that they wanted to project the feeling of Mexican culture and I think we have managed to do it. It will be a great experience.”
Because of the structure of the Sphere, UFC had to change the way the lights were projected onto the octagon and figure out the ideal placement.
They designed a three-dimensional model of the octagon to help determine the best position.
“Every seat, every line on the sidelines, everything had to be designed within the model that would allow us to place the octagon on the floor and see from each seat what the stage would look like,” Borsari said. “Every detail has been well thought out and although there are many new things to see, the fighters will feel like they always have during fights. The lights will come from different angles, but it will be just as they have always had it so they don’t feel the change of scenery too much.”
After cycling through dozens of options using the model, the next step was to build the octagon and put it to the test.
White banned photography inside the venue until the day of the fights.
“In May, we built it where we thought the octagon should go, we walked around the building, we sat in different positions to check the angles and we realized that we needed to push it back about 16 inches and that was the ideal position,” Borsari said.
White hopes it will be an unforgettable night for fans and help launch UFC’s Mexican Vegas residency.
“I want it to be a sensory explosion night, where people take away something they’ve never experienced before,” White said.
This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.
