Not everybody was impressed with the UFC’s debut event inside the unique surroundings of the Sphere this past weekend.
Saturday saw MMA’s leading promotion stage its latest pay-per-view and second Noche UFC celebration from the Sphere, marking the first live sporting event to take place at the Las Vegas venue.
In addition to the two high-stakes championship headliners, all eyes were on the $20 million production the UFC put on using the Sphere’s technology.
When it comes to the latter, the overall reception across the MMA community appeared to be largely positive. But in terms of the main and co-main event fights themselves, the consensus trended in a different direction.
And for one former UFC fighter, the action inside the Octagon remained the night’s priority, rendering the Sphere experiment a failure…
Schaub Not A Fan Of UFC’s Sphere Spectacle
During the latest episode of his podcast, Schaub gave his assessment of the UFC’s Sphere PPV and the fights that went down at the organization’s second annual celebration of Mexican Independence Day.
With his preference being excitement inside the Octagon over the additional production that came with the venue, Schaub was left disappointed by the event as a whole.
“My issue is the product that I paid to watch was not great. It wasn’t a pay-per-view-worthy card,” Schaub said. “The bell of the ball is the Sphere. Therefore, what you’re paying for, unless you’re in-person, ain’t that great, dude. And the main event and co-main event, boy did the UFC gamble and they lost.
“You know what the Sphere is? It’s Rainforest Cafe. It looks f*cking great but the product is sh*t,” Schaub continued. “UFC doing events at the Sphere is Rainforest Cafe. Looks great, fun experience, the actual product sucks. I’d rather watch great fights at the Apex center. I don’t need all that. Maybe I’m the minority.”
UFC CEO Dana White has remained firm in calling the Sept. 14 event a one-and-done show, something Schaub and those sharing the same sentiment will no doubt be pleased to hear.
But with plenty calling for a repeat experience down the line, perhaps the promotional higher-ups will be tempted to reverse their stance and put on another night of action at the venue, hopefully with headliners that deliver fireworks second time around.
