The inaugural Noche UFC event this past September was considered a huge success and Dana White is planning on upping the stakes in a historic way the second time around.
The UFC president said Wednesday the organization will be hosting Noche UFC 2 at The Sphere in Las Vegas in mid-September to celebrate Mexican Independence Day and that fans should get excited.
“I’m going to put on the greatest live event anybody’s ever seen and it’s going to be this huge love letter to all of combat and combat sports throughout the history of Mexico,” White told The Pat McAfee Show.
The event during Mexican Independence Day weekend last year took place at T-Mobile Arena and was headlined by women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso of Guadalajara retaining her title in a split draw with former champ Valentina Shevchenko.
White did not confirm any specific bouts for the September 2024 event but did say there will be “tons of great Mexican fighters” who will compete on the card.
Grasso was one of several Mexicans to emerge victorious at Noche UFC last year and would be an obvious option to compete at The Sphere. Teenaged phenom Raul Rosas Jr., Daniel Zellhuber, and Mexican-Canadian standout Lupita “Loopy” Godinez also won at the event five months ago.
Former men’s flyweight champion Brandon Moreno and former featherweight title challenger Yair Rodriguez are both set to compete at a UFC Fight Night event at Arena CDMX in Mexico City later this month. That entire card is full of Mexican talent and it is safe to assume some of those fighters could be included in the UFC’s September plans.
White added it’ll be “the craziest show anybody’s ever seen” referencing how the UFC plans to potentially utilize the venue’s various immersive technological capabilities.
“What we’re going to pull off there will never be done again,” he said.
It was only a matter of time before professional sports began hosting various events at the 18,000-seat entertainment arena.
The NFL has been using The Sphere to market the upcoming Super Bowl LVIII from Las Vegas this week and the NHL announced in December its plans to host the 2024 NHL Draft at The Sphere.