Sphere offers powerful Mexican storytelling at UFC 306 - ESPN

Coming into Noche UFC, UFC president and CEO Dana White was inspired to use his fight card — on the weekend of Mexican Independence Day — to tell a story of the fighting spirit of Mexico.

The platform for his storytelling would be Las Vegas' Sphere, the one-of-a-kind venue that serves as the world's largest spherical structure. At over 360 feet tall and a 580,000-square-foot fully programmable LED exterior and 160,000-square-foot interior, White would have plenty to work with.

«We created this movie that I call a love letter to Mexico,» White said on ESPN on «First Take.» "[The movie] talks about their culture, their history, and, more importantly, the fighting spirit of Mexico. The place that they hold in combat sports, all the greats that have ever come from there. So all of this is going to be combined into a live event.

«So we have this movie and we have chapters of the movie. So, one chapter of the movie will play, and then a fight will happen. Another chapter will play, then a fight will happen, and this thing starts at the beginning of time and ends in the future of Mexico.»

In front of over 16,000 in attendance at Sphere, six chapters played out during the main card of UFC 306, supplemented with UFC's «Octagon Girls» in wardrobe representative of different regions and themes tied to Mexico's rich culture. The UFC shared details of each chapter of the film via X.

The film, "For Mexico, For All Time," set out to offer diverse perspectives on Mexico's journey, from its earliest civilizations to modern-day achievements. «This film was an incredible collaborative opportunity to merge the universes of Mexico's culture, UFC's history,» said Joe Sill, director at Impossible Objects and chapter producer, to the UFC.