2024 has been another great year for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but what was your favorite moment from the past twelve months?
Was it Jon 'Bones' Jones' iconic comeback at UFC 309, or perhaps it was Max Holloway's insane last-second knockout against Justin Gaethje – well, neither of those moments are front and center for the man at the top of the promotion.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Dana White reveals his favorite UFC moment of 2024
From breaking countless arena records to putting on some of the best fights we've ever seen in the octagon; it's safe to assume that 2024 has been an excellent year for the UFC.
Speaking on First Take, UFC CEO Dana White revealed his personal favorite moment of the year via the ESPN MMA YouTube channel – and surprisingly, he didn't mention Jones, Holloway or even UFC 300.
“Without a doubt it had to be The Sphere that spawned The Sphere [for UFC 306]” said White, who was keen to acknowledge that the Las Vegas showstopper will go down in history as one of the most visually stunning events in all of sports, fighting or otherwise.
“I thought when we made The Sphere, people would flock there to try it. I don't think anyone will ever do it, I don't think anyone will ever replicate what we did there. night.
“If the production team here at UFC doesn't win every award there is on television, then the awards are BS.”
While UFC 306: O'Malley vs Dvalishvili at The Sphere was indeed an excellent show, with a whopping $20 million budget, it's unlikely the promotion will ever stage a PPV of that size and scope again.
“That was a one-off [event]… I mean, I just went to see The Eagles, which is an incredible show. The things they did on screen matched the music very well, but if you look at [what we did]it's not even comparable.”
UFC 306 reportedly generated over $21.8 million in ticket receipts, making it the largest gate in UFC history; The event also holds the record for VIP experience sales, merchandise sales, ticket sales for The Sphere and sponsorship revenue.
“This has been another record year for us, not just financially for the company, but also financially [for] breaking arena records,” continued White, who then talked about why 2025 is going to be even better.
“Next year my focus is on visiting a lot of places we haven't been in a while or have never been [been before].
“We're trying to get into Spain next year – we've never done Spain before – we're going back to LA early this year, we're going to Seattle again and probably going to Chicago and some other countries. these places we haven't been to in a while.”
What is Dana White's all-time favorite moment from the UFC history books?
In a 2022 interview with GQ Magazine, White was asked what his personal “most satisfying” result in UFC history was – and unsurprisingly he mentioned one of the most brutal losses to Tito Ortiz.
“When Chuck Liddell knocked out Tito Ortiz – that was my favorite, favorite moment that has ever happened in UFC history.”
White has a storied history with Ortiz, initially as his promoter before joining the UFC as an executive; with their relationship turning sour after an infamous scuffle on board a private jet.
“We were on a private plane heading to Japan and it was my partners, the Fertitta brothers, myself, Tito Ortiz and our then matchmaker, Joe Silva,” White told Conan O'Brien in 2017.
“Tito and I were messing around and he put me in what's called a neck crank, I was tapping and he didn't stop. You can seriously injure someone with a neck crutch, especially one as big and strong as Tito.
“So I just started shooting him in the ribs, started punching him in the ribs and then he let go [I] just jumped up and it was just a straight up fist fight on the plane… We were literally taking off and the plane was [wobbling] and the Fertitta brothers had to intervene and break up the fight.
White didn't mention when this scuffle took place, but we imagine it will take something very special for Liddell's knockout to be toppled as his favorite UFC moment of all time.
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