UFC tried to rent U2's concert structure for UFC 147, expecting 'between 60K and 80K' fans
LAS VEGAS – The UFC's first ever soccer-stadium show is going to require some interesting engineering and some creative solutions.
In fact, as the UFC began its planning, the company turned to a group that's quite used to putting on big events in big venues: Irish rock-and-roll legends U2.
With UFC 147 now official for June 23 at Rio de Janeiro's Joao Havelange Stadium, UFC president Dana White today revealed the company tried to rent U2's massive concert staging centerpiece, nicknamed "The Claw" and used in the band's U2 360° Tour. However, the UFC will instead develop a custom design. Once complete, White will have a better idea of seating capacity, but he currently anticipates the building will be scaled somewhere between 60,000 and 80,000 fans.
"We're working on it right now," White told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com). "To do the lighting rig inside one of those places? Did you see the last U2 concert? We tried to rent that claw – whatever that thing is, that claw thing. We tried to rent that thing from them and couldn't get it because we couldn't get it down there, so we're building our own version of that thing. There's a lot of work that's going to go into that show."
Joao Havelange Stadium (also known as Engenhao Stadium) is the first soccer stadium to host a UFC event. In 2011, the UFC visited a similarly large venue in Toronto's Rogers Centre – a multi-purpose stadium used for baseball, football and concerts, among other things – for UFC 129 Prior to the event, White had been hesitant to book such an event and risk losing the arena feel of a live show. However, with multiple massive video screen and increased production values, UFC 129 was positively reviewed by most MMA pundits, and the attendance set a company record with 55,724 fans on hand.
White promises the Brazilian event will deliver, as well.
"You guys saw what we did in Canada when we did the Toronto show," White said. "We told you guys that we wouldn't lose any energy or any of the feel of our in-house live event when we did a stadium. We pulled it off, and we'll pull it off down there."
White mentioned the possibility of 80,000 fans attending the event during a press conference this past week. However, Joao Havelange Stadium is currently only scaled for approximately 47,000 fans. The UFC, of course, will have the benefit of adding seats on top of what would normally be the soccer field's playing surface, but White said he's not yet sure exactly what the final seating count will be.
However, he is certain it will be more than Toronto.
"We're still scaling this thing," White said. "Pardon me – it will be between 60,000 and 80,000 people. It will beat Toronto."
UFC 147's main card sees UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva taking on top contender Chael Sonnen in a heavily anticipated rematch of their UFC 117 meeting. Sonnen, however, continues to claim he hasn't actually signed off on the bout.
White laughed at that notion and said the fight is official, and Sonnen will be at an April promotional press conference in Rio de Janeiro.
"He's nuts, man," White said. "The fight is happening. He has accepted the fight, and he will be with me in Brazil for the press conference."
