UFC 306 at the Sphere will be standing room only, with a prize pool of over $17 million

Dana White spoke about the upcoming UFC Riyadh Season Noche (as UFC 306 has been dubbed), revealing the event’s price tag, the number of fights, and some surprising news about seating…or lack thereof.

“We’re right in the thick of it,” White said of planning the show at MSG Sphere, speaking recently on The Pat McAfee Show.

Asked about the seating configuration at the Sphere, which is somewhat different from other venues, White explained that “you’ll have the people who are seated, the people who are in the suites, and then the lower level, which will watch the whole show standing room only. And then there will be bleachers and seats…”

The fact that spectators can stand may be new for a UFC event, but it’s not new to sports. NHL hockey games and many other sports have occasionally sold standing-room tickets in traditional venues. The concept is much more familiar, of course, to live music fans.

The Sphere has a seating capacity of 18,500, which can be expanded to 20,000 standing, with some variation depending on stage configuration and other factors. Using 160,000 square feet of 16K LED display canvas, it offers a rather unique viewing experience – and it doesn’t come cheap to put on a show there.

“I’ve already invested $17 million in this thing, and we’re not even close to September,” revealed White, who believes this year’s UFC Noche will be the biggest live sporting event in the history of combat sports, if not sports. “Nobody else is going to go out there and spend — let’s say U2 spends, I don’t know, I throw that out there, I don’t know how much they spend, let’s say they spend $30 million. That’s over 40 nights. I’m going to go one night, one time, that’s it. Never again.”

White confirmed that, as is the norm for UFC events, there would be no musical performances. “Oh no, I don’t do that kind of thing.” He also revealed a rather surprising number of fights for the card: “We’re going to do ten.”

The event will feature the traditional main event and co-main event, which could put to rest rumors that three or more title fights were scheduled for UFC Noche 306/Riyadh. “There will be a main event, a co-main event and obviously this card will be very Mexican-centric.”

The event is named in honor of and takes place on Mexican Independence Day, September 14.