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UFC CEO Dana White In Full Support of UFC APEX Renovations Entering 2025

The UFC APEX will look a little different next year.

Zain Bando

Mar 27, 2021; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Stipe Miocic punches Francis Ngannou of Cameroon in their UFC heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 260 event at UFC APEX on March 27, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Bottari/Handout Photo via Imagn Images
Mar 27, 2021; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Stipe Miocic punches Francis Ngannou of Cameroon in their UFC heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 260 event at UFC APEX on March 27, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Bottari/Handout Photo via Imagn Images / Handout Photo-Imagn Images

The UFC APEX has become a pillar for nearly 70 percent of non-pay-per-view events per year, and fans can expect the trend to increase significantly next year.

According to. a Fighters Only Magazine exclusive, a $20 million renovation is set to transform the once U.S.-based COVID bubble into a centralized Las Vegas, Nev. hotbed for fights, entertainment, grappling and more.

UFC CEO Dana White appears to be pleased with the changes, although he has yet to garner specifics about how, if anything, the venue will change holistically.

"We’re doing a $20 million expansion here,” White said. “We’re gonna invest a lot of money in this place. And we got some pretty big announcements coming up in the next six months. So, it’ll all sort of make sense on what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.”

It wasn't long ago that the promotion was using the APEX to keep the business alive during the pandemic. Fights that would have been in sold-out arenas pre- or post-pandemic were instead taking place in a warehouse with an Octagon, in-house production, locker rooms, a gym, and other essential amenities.

It was a unique time for a sport that was one of the few running consistently on national television each weekend, much less day-to-day. White has admitted in several interviews how difficult it was to operate during that time period but said it was his duty to do so as the sport's most powerful executive.

"How long are we really going to stay in our houses and hide?" White asked then-Yahoo Sports columnist Kevin Iole in March 2020. "If the coronavirus is what's going to get me, then. I mean, it is what it is. Heart disease, car accidents, cancer — the list goes on and on of all these things that kill people every year. One thing is guaranteed: We're all gonna die of something. ... You can't be somebody who's gonna hide in your house." 

The UFC eventually became the first major sport to return with a live audience, beginning with UFC 261 in April 2021 in Jacksonville, Fla.

While the pandemic may seem like a distant memory to some, the UFC APEX is far from extinct.

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Zain Bando
ZAIN BANDO

Zain Bando is a writer for MMA Knockout, part of the Sports Illustrated/Minute Media umbrella. He has covered combat sports since 2019 for notable outlets BJPenn.com and FanSided MMA. He also co-hosts a podcast called "The MMA Outsiders," part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network, which airs Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. A Chicago suburban native, Bando has been enthralled with MMA since 2006 and has been fortunate to attend some of the most high-profile events in the sport's history, both as a fan and media member, including UFC 264, Bellator 297 and Kayla Harrison's PFL MMA debut. He is excited to take the next step in his combat sports writing journey and looks forward to continuing his following of the fight game for years to come. Bando can be reached via email at zainbando99@gmail.com or by social media @zainbando99

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