The UFC is now introducing a whole new way to watch fights.
A few weeks ago there was a strange aura surrounding the UFC event. Entering into fight week media members were informed that they would not be allowed into the event for the first time ever with the exception of mid-pandemic. There was no explanation given, but later the rumors began to run wild. Mackenzie Dern, who was headlining that event added fuel to the rumor fires by telling media that Facebook/Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had rented out the entire arena for himself.
Those reports turned out to be true despite Dana White denying them and there he sat on fight night Zuckerberg, his wife, and White. Many thought that it could be a way to create a VR UFC experience and now those people are correct. The UFC announced today that they will be streaming future events through virtual reality.
The UFC will stream events through virtual reality for fans around the world
The promotion announced the partnership with Meta for live and on-demand MMA events in VR on Fight Pass.com. The partnership is also with Oculus which is the actual headset one will need to watch the VR events. The first run of this new technology will be LFA 144 which goes down on Friday, Oct. 14. at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The details of what the event will look like through VR are still unclear at this time.
“We are excited to offer an unprecedented level of engagement for Fight Pass subscribers and MMA fans around the world by producing a live MMA event in virtual reality,” a representative said in a UFC press release h/t MMA Junkie. “With Meta providing the VR platform and YBVR lending their production expertise, we’re confident this will be a great experience for fight fans.”
To watch these events one will need a Meta Quest Oculus headset along with Meta’s Horizon Worlds app. The LFA 144 will be headlined by the bantamweight title fight featuring Muin Gafurov and Diego Silva. There is no word which UFC event will be first for this technology, but perhaps it will be available for the upcoming UFC 280 PPV.
