UFC officials have big plans for land the company owns surrounding its Las Vegas headquarters and Meta Apex facility.
UFC owns about 70 acres just north of the 215 Beltway between Jones and Rainbow boulevards. The UFC headquarters and Performance Institute and the Meta Apex facility are the only portions of the land that have been developed, with about 35 acres left to develop.
“We’re currently in the process of developing a master plan for this facility, which will include hopefully a lot of things, including … a hotel, expansion with our TKO partner WWE, maybe additional collaborations with other sports and entertainment organizations here in Las Vegas,” UFC senior executive vice president and chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein said Monday.
UFC hopes to unveil its plans for the expansion of its campus sometime in the next several months.
“Like Lawrence said, we’re just getting started,” UFC president and CEO Dana White said. “We own a lot of the property around here, and we’re coming up with a master plan.”
UFC recently upgraded Meta Apex to accommodate up to 1,300 people with a retractable bleacher system and a mezzanine on the second floor that can fit about 90 people. Two state-of-the-art kitchens were added to allow concessions to be sold, a grand entrance was added to improve guest flow, and LED screens on the east and west sides of the Apex were increased in size.
“When you think about the arenas in Las Vegas, you got the T-Mobile, Allegiant, MGM, and other ones. There’s a new arena in town, and this is it,” White said. “This arena can do anything. We can host anything here, from fights, comedy, concerts, tons of conventions that come in town. We’re capable of handling anything that comes our way.”
When asked if the 1,300-seat space would be the end of arena building in Las Vegas for UFC and TKO, which also includes WWE and Zuffa Boxing, White was unsure.
“We just got this (Meta Apex refresh) done,” White said. “But yeah, I mean, who knows? I mean, this originally was supposed to be a studio for fights, and now we have an arena that we’re already talking about expanding, so who knows?
“But yes, and like I was just saying, I see us competing with all the majors (league sports) right now.”
With Zuffa Boxing making some recent high-profile signings, including Shakur Stevenson and Conor Benn, White and the company are looking to overhaul a sport he says is broken.
Look no further than the failed Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao rematch originally set for Sphere in September.
After the bout was announced to be streamed live on Netflix, things went south, starting with Mayweather later saying the bout wasn’t going to be a sanctioned fight, as initially announced, but just an exhibition, and that it happening at Sphere wasn’t certain.
What followed was a proposed date and venue change, but the process ultimately ended in a lawsuit filed in June by CSI Sports Events against Mayweather tied to the Pacquiao rematch and a planned exhibition against Mike Tyson.
“The sport is absolutely busted,” White said. “All these guys that are involved are not good at what they do, and I’m actually shocked. I don’t know why I’m so shocked at how unsophisticated it is, but I am.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
