Let’s take a trip back in time to roughly five years ago: Dana White’s Contender Series was about to begin its third season on the air and it did so in a new facility. After having spent the first two years of its life inside the TUF Gym, the original home of The Ultimate Fighter television series, the Tuesday night MMA promotion would instead originate from the new UFC Apex.
UFC CEO Dana White first took notice of the abandoned property that was to become the Apex two years prior to its opening when Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel saw it from a window and didn’t know what the building was or the property’s owner.
Emanuel suggested that White and the promotion buy the land, even though no one associated with the UFC had any idea as to what they could do with it. On June 18, 2019, Contender Series held opening night of its third year. At the time, the venue was only slated to be used for Contender Series and subsequent seasons of The Ultimate Fighter. Nine months later, the world turned upside-down.
COVID-19 Pandemic Forces Sports to Go on Pause
In March of 2020, fears about the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) gripped the world and changed daily lives forever. On March 11 of that year, the World Health Organization made headlines by declaring the disease a pandemic. Once that occurred, it took mere hours for the planet’s sports calendar to be affected.
That evening, a scheduled NBA game pitting the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder appeared to be getting underway until the referees were called away to a meeting to discuss what would become the identity of the first positive COVID test in American sports: Jazz center Rudy Gobert. Two days earlier, he had been seen touching microphones at a podium during a postgame press conference.
The NBA has suspended the season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 12, 2020
Later that night, the NBA suspended play for the first time since a lockout delayed the start of the season eight years earlier and by the next afternoon, all sports were on hiatus. A planned Bellator card for the following Friday was cancelled just hours ahead of its start time and a UFC card slated for that Saturday went ahead behind closed doors.
UFC Moves to Apex
After the first lengthy hiatus between events in UFC promotional history and a three-card residency in Jacksonville that May, the Nevada State Athletic Commission lifted a moratorium on combat sports to allow events to be held at the UFC Apex throughout the ensuing summer and fall, except for brief residencies on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
For close to a year, the Apex was the only place in America where UFC events were happening. From May 30, 2020 until April 17, 2021, all US-based cards originated from the Apex. Fast-forward to 2024: While the era of pandemic-induced restrictions inside the United States is thankfully a memory, the UFC still holds selected Fight Night cards at the facility, including the one that happened Saturday night.
During that event, news made the rounds online that fans of competitive violence have been waiting a long time to hear. This fall, after the current season of Contender Series wraps up, the UFC Apex will be shutting its doors— if only for a moment in time.
🚨 The UFC Apex will be CLOSING due to construction in November and won’t open again until Summer 2025. (per @Grabaka_Hitman) pic.twitter.com/LI6vMTdgqZ
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 11, 2024
This corroborates a statement made by White earlier this year.
“I’ve been saying this for a long time: We’ve got to get out of the Apex and start doing more events in all these different cities,” White mentioned three months ago in St. Louis. “We’re starting to do it. We’re getting it done this year.”
Hefty Price Tag for Renovations
Renovations on the Apex will cost $25 million (USD) and include full-on concession areas, restrooms, and expanded seating among the amenities. White reaffirmed his commitments to more traditional arena shows in a late July interview with TNT Sports (UK).
“We’re going to travel more with the Fight Nights,” White told Adam Catterall. “The Apex is going under construction here. We’re actually expanding the Apex, and it’s going to be bigger and better.”
A Welcome Development
The fact that the UFC Apex is going to close down for a short time late this year and into the first part of next year is a piece of good news. As somebody who’s written about MMA for over six years now and has followed MMA since his college days at Youngstown State University (Go Penguins!), there’s nothing more exciting than a Saturday night of combat sports.
Sometimes, there are UFC cards that are lackluster to sit through. Not every Saturday night of fights can be good, even though some individual contests bring out the fireworks.
Final Thoughts
In summation, while the UFC Apex is ceasing operations for a brief period later on in the fall, it’s very much part and parcel of the promotion’s 30-plus-year legacy, like it or not. Even though some may think Apex fight cards have gotten stale, the upcoming renovations should breathe in some new life to the facility.
