The MMA promotion didn’t fail to hype up UFC 306 and the venue for the event, the Sphere. It is indeed claimed to be the most interactive venue in Las Vegas. With over $20 million spent on the development of Riyadh Season Noche UFC, the fight fans seemed to expect quite a lot from the Sphere. However, the world of mixed martial arts had mixed reactions about the new venue. 

Dana White left no stone unturned to raise the fans’ intrigue about the MMA promotion’s debut at the Sphere. Bringing in Academy Award-winning directors and producers from Hollywood and planning out 6 short animated films to tell the story of the Mexican fighting culture and history, had reeled the fans in with nothing but intrigue in their eyes. However, the excitement levels of the fighting community were not at the level that the UFC head honcho seemed to have expected. Well, the prelims and the early prelim cards didn’t have enough entropy. After all, White had plans for the main card!

Soon after Riyadh Season Noche UFC commenced, the former English mixed martial artist Dan Hardy took to X and asked the MMA world for their opinion on the venue. He wrote, “What do you think of Sphere as a venue?”

As soon as the tweet crossed the thresholds of the social media platform, the fight fans jumped to the comments section to express their thoughts.

The MMA world wasn’t happy with the Sphere

The tickets for the Sean O’Malley headliner event were a bit too pricey. While the tickets usually go for $200, the ones for UFC 306 were about 10 times more. This urged the world to believe that the event would be more exciting and more entertaining than the past UFC events. However, all that the fans experienced was disappointment. One of the fans wrote, “Super not worth the money so far.”

Some of the fans pointed out the flaws in the venue. A few fans claimed that the red wall behind the screens was distracting. Some others wanted the promotion to put the giant screen on. While another fan commented, “Cage looks FAR away and Echoes too much.”

A few of the fans also gave mixed reactions to the question. One wrote, “It’s probably amazing in person; just interesting on TV. It’s a good reminder to sports franchises that exploring unique ways to improve the in-person experience is a worthy investment.” Meanwhile, another fan commented, “Looks just like anything else for the most part. It’s just a red wall. Then a cage like design while they fight. It’s different, but I don’t get the “wow” factor. I’m sure it’s different being there. But it doesn’t translate on TV.” But a few others claimed that the Sphere was way better than the Apex. “It’s cool. Very different. Certainly beats another Apex card!” wrote one, while another said, “I like it. Beats the hell out of the Apex!” 

Nevertheless, the story has just begun. The fans’ opinion might just change as the main card commences and White executes all the plans that he had made along with Craig Borsari. What do you think of UFC 306? Do you think another show should be hosted at the venue? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.