The UFC APEX has become a pillar for nearly 70 percent of non-pay-per-view events per year, and fans can expect the trend to increase significantly next year.
According to. a Fighters Only Magazine exclusive, a $20 million renovation is set to transform the once U.S.-based COVID bubble into a centralized Las Vegas, Nev. hotbed for fights, entertainment, grappling and more.
UFC CEO Dana White appears to be pleased with the changes, although he has yet to garner specifics about how, if anything, the venue will change holistically.
"We’re doing a $20 million expansion here,” White said. “We’re gonna invest a lot of money in this place. And we got some pretty big announcements coming up in the next six months. So, it’ll all sort of make sense on what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.”
It wasn’t long ago that the promotion was using the APEX to keep the business alive during the pandemic. Fights that would have been in sold-out arenas pre- or post-pandemic were instead taking place in a warehouse with an Octagon, in-house production, locker rooms, a gym, and other essential amenities.
It was a unique time for a sport that was one of the few running consistently on national television each weekend, much less day-to-day. White has admitted in several interviews how difficult it was to operate during that time period but said it was his duty to do so as the sport’s most powerful executive.
“How long are we really going to stay in our houses and hide?” White asked then-Yahoo Sports columnist Kevin Iole in March 2020. “If the coronavirus is what’s going to get me, then. I mean, it is what it is. Heart disease, car accidents, cancer — the list goes on and on of all these things that kill people every year. One thing is guaranteed: We’re all gonna die of something. … You can’t be somebody who’s gonna hide in your house.”
The UFC eventually became the first major sport to return with a live audience, beginning with UFC 261 in April 2021 in Jacksonville, Fla.
While the pandemic may seem like a distant memory to some, the UFC APEX is far from extinct.
Makes totally sense.
They run so many events and unless it’s a massive card that will fill a shit ton of seats at high prices, would likely save a lot of money by having their own purpose built arena.
Can run their own grappling events and even rent it out to smaller feeder orgs.
They’ve been doing for years already and it is shit. no crowd, no soul
They should of relinquished doing fights there years ago
Yeah but the point of this renovation is to make it a real proper arena which should include the crowd and bring the soul …
Considering this new era ufc i wouldn’t hold my breath
UFC product is so watered down now, who gives a shit where they have fights. Tired of watching some no name vanilla midgets manufacture beef at a press conference only to have a boring fight. Only thing worse than that are the female fights.
Capacity needs to be 5K or more.
APEX events are total shit and energy is shit.
Stipe lost his HW title belt infront of 38 people and there was zero crowd. They fought in a large Garage.
Sad time in MMA history.
No more Apex shows for fucks sake.
WWE did this at the Apex as it is several months ago
That would have been a fine setup for the average Fight Night and take the bigger ones on the road, but they’ve been lazy low effort fucks.
Why can’t they do this for UFC too? That’s awesome and makes zero sense not to.
Doesn’t Dana play like 500k blackjack hands?
Sounds like a budget renovation.
It really has a cool Fight Club esque look and it’s a shame it hasn’t been used. I guess they just prefer to keep it very exclusive so they can way overcharge the few that get in.