Dana White says the expanded Meta Apex is the first part of a larger UFC campus plan in Las Vegas. The renovated venue now has a 14,500-square-foot event floor and capacity for nearly 1,200 spectators.
The event floor previously covered 12,000 square feet, while early UFC Fight Night crowds at the building were limited to roughly 175 people. White said adding seats drove the renovation.
“More seating. I mean, it’s all about getting more seating,” White said. “Obviously, the concessions and all the other things are great. Everything here is beautiful and incredible now, but for me it’s all about more seating.”
The source video showing the renovated venue and White’s remarks is below.
White Credits The Pandemic For Changing The Apex
The UFC opened the Apex in 2019 as a purpose-built production facility beside its Las Vegas headquarters. It became the promotion’s main domestic venue during the COVID-19 shutdown, then remained a regular home for Fight Nights, Dana White’s Contender Series, UFC BJJ and Zuffa Boxing.
“The evolution of it has been interesting because it’s not what it was intended to be,” White said. “Take the risk at the time that we took to buy this building and start to renovate. It all couldn’t have worked out any better. COVID changed everything and here we are with a new arena in Las Vegas.”
UFC and Meta announced the venue’s new name in January 2026 as part of their technology partnership. The project added public ticketing, expanded concessions, hospitality areas, retail space, parking and a remodeled entrance.
The Long-Term Plan Includes Hotels
White said the current building is one part of a broader development around UFC’s Las Vegas property.
“More than the expansion of the Apex, you know, we’re going to do a master plan here,” White said. “And there’s going to be, you know, it’s going to be like our own little city here is what we’re going to end up with. Hotels and, you know, much more.”
The Meta partnership is also intended to bring the company’s virtual-reality, wearable and fan-experience technology into UFC events. White connected those upgrades to the promotion’s effort to improve both the in-person show and the broadcast.
“I’m always supposed to be looking for new ways to find young up-and-coming talent, figure out how to make sure that the live event is better every time and the television event is better every time we do it,” White said.
White compared UFC’s facility strategy with leagues that control or anchor major venues.
“Our competition right now is NFL and NBA and Major League Baseball and, you know, we’re one of the big boys now,” White said. “They have their own arenas and, you know, that’s where we’re headed. We’re competing with those guys.”
Asked separately whether he would consider joining an NBA ownership group, White left the possibility open without making a commitment.
“I wouldn’t say no but I’m not saying yes I am,” White said.
The expanded seating changes the economics and atmosphere of future Apex cards. UFC can sell considerably more tickets while continuing to use its own production base, and the planned hotels would consolidate more of the promotion’s fight-week operations on the same Las Vegas campus.
Related MiddleEasy coverage includes White’s account of the Apex’s pandemic-era growth, his comments on a possible women’s BMF title, and Mark Zuckerberg’s earlier Apex appearance.
