UFC’s Original Programming Sets MMA Fight Show Promoter Apart From All Others In Las Vegas

 

 

By Alan Snel

LVSportsBiz.com

 

Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell

 

The Raiders have their own show on the construction of their new Las Vegas stadium called, “From the Ground Up, and the Vegas Golden Knights produce their own in-house videos like the recent one on the availability of single game tickets.

But no Las Vegas sports organization generates more original content than Ultimate Fighting Championship, which just finished its third season Tuesday of “Dana White’s Contender Series” and the first season filmed live at UFC’s new APEX building for ESPN+

White, the UFC boss, president and ringmaster, appeared genuinely bummed after the show when the third season’s ten episodes had come to an end. White the MMA career-maker doled out 27 contracts to 100 fighters during the 10 episodes who came to Las Vegas with big dreams of fighting in the octagon cage in big arenas like T-Mobile Arena instead of the APEX that had several hundred spectators watching.

“I’m always looking for talent,” White answered LVSportsBiz.com’s question about whether the contender series was more talent hunt or UFC programming.

UFC has much more content than Dana White’s Contender Series. For example, the The Ultimate Fighter show, which began in 2005 with young fighters training on teams, is returning in October after a hiatus.

And White’s “Looking for a Fight,” which documents White’s hunt for unknown talent in markets from New York to Louisiana, is being filmed by UFC for six to eight episodes a year on YouTube. Looking for a Fight moves to Hawaii in the fall, White said.

LVSportsBiz.com chatted with UFC’s executive vice president of operations and productions, Craig Borsari, Tuesday to find out why UFC places so much emphasis on creating its own original content and programming. UFC is not just about promoting MMA fight shows in the U.S. and around the globe. It’s also a media company with 70 full-time production staffers and 150 production freelancers who create and shape UFC’s programming and message. Here’s our interview with Borsari, a 15-year veteran.

Before the APEX opened this year, the Dana White Contender Series show was filmed at in industrial warehouse setting near the Palms for its first two seasons.

But UFC purchased the former Scientific Games Corp. building next to its headquarters off the 215 beltway in southwest valley. And UFC spent millions of dollars to re-purpose the structure into the home for Dana White’s Contender Series and plans to host concerts and comedy shows for as many as 1,500 people in the APEX.

 

UFC also produces a show called, “Embedded,” a 10-minute clip filmed days before fight shows to give fans behind-the-scene looks at the combatants as they prepare for their cage fight. Here’s a look at heavyweight Daniel Cormier before UFC 241.

The contender series content, which can be seen on ESPN+, includes mini bios of each of the 10 fighters. For example, featherweight TJ Brown’s profile on a video that was shown to the audience has Brown saying he learned how to fight as a kid because he was bullied in his small Arkansas town from being a brown-skinned youngster. Brown ended up defeating Dylan Lockard and then celebrated when White said he would give a contract to the 29-year-old.

“I love his passion for the sport,” White said. “I’ll give him a shot.”

 

 

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