Many of the most powerful figures in the fight game will converge on Las Vegas this week for a rare offering, one that features boxing's top star, Canelo Alvarez, and the first live sporting event at the revolutionary Sphere with UFC 306.
Canelo's unified super middleweight championship defense vs. long-odds underdog Edgar Berlanga and Sean O'Malley's UFC bantamweight title fight against Merab Dvalishvili will coincide Saturday evening, an unusual conflict of high-profile combat sports events in Las Vegas.
And with it, the fight game's power players will all be represented in person between both events. There's Turki Alalshikh, whose lucrative Riyadh Season sponsorship helped make it possible for Dana White and the UFC to hold an event at the exorbitantly priced Sphere. White said the cost of the immersive venue has topped $20 million. It's the first pay-per-view event from White that isn't simply billed as UFC followed by a numeral.
This time, it's Riyadh Season Noche UFC, in what's being promoted as a celebration of Mexico and its storied fighting history. But Mexico's biggest sporting star will be in the ring two miles away.
That's where Alvarez will showcase his influence again as he packs T-Mobile Arena for a fight against Berlanga. They'll headline one of boxing's storied holidays: Mexican Independence Day weekend, a slot long reserved for the sport's top attraction.
There's Alalshikh and White cageside in Las Vegas while boxing power broker Al Haymon's PBC will deliver Alvarez's fight at the MGM-managed property. Battle lines are drawn.
«Canelo's one of those guys that I respect and hey, good on Haymon,» White told ESPN in late July. «Haymon snatched that date right away from me.»
Adding to the stakes is the
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