UFC's war with MGM reveals changing Las Vegas politics
How Mexican Independence Day turned into a high-stakes proxy war for rich white men.
Two major Las Vegas titans in a pissing contest. It's a Vegas power struggle you probably didn't even know existed. A classic combat sports match-up — the arena vs. the promoter. And the arena chose boxing over UFC. Talk about a direct hit to you-know-who’s ego.
A fight over control and influence to determine who really calls the shots in the Las Vegas Establishment. The funny part is that these two parties need each other for global business.
And now that fight has quietly been stopped — for now.
In the red corner, we have fire and fury from UFC headquarters. The Face of UFC, Dana White, and his tag team partner — producer/content officer Craig Borsari.
In the blue corner, we have MGM Resorts chief Bill Hornbuckle and T-Mobile Arena general manager Massimigliano “Max/Massimo” Bizzarro. Yes, Mr. Bizzarro’s name is real and spectacular. He is a high-powered Las Vegas administrator with a very low-key social media footprint. This is all that we could find online. His LinkedIn profile claims he’s proficient in English, Italian, and Spanish. Max doesn’t exactly sound like a verbal flamethrower.
Mr. Bizzarro, the former booker for MGM Grand Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena, is now the General Manager of T-Mobile Arena. T-Mobile Arena is co-owned by MGM and Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). Bill Foley, the owner of the Vegas Golden Knights, has a 15% ownership share in the arena.
As this Las Vegas Sports Biz article highlights, Bank of America helped navigate the significant debt financing required by both AEG & MGM to construct and operate T-Mobile Arena.
MGM needs as many big-time clients as possible to book dates at T-Mobile Arena to help pay off their arena debt. UFC is one of those major clients. In 2017, UFC signed a 7-year agreement with T-Mobile Arena. The agreement calls for four annual UFC events at the venue.
As part of that 2017 UFC contract with T-Mobile Arena, the Agreement reportedly specifies UFC having first rights to certain booking windows. From UFC’s press release in 2017:
“The comprehensive agreement calls for UFC to host a minimum of four events annually. UFC will have priority scheduling for designated major events windows, such as International Fight Week, and will have a presence at T-Mobile Arena…”
In 2023, Endeavor booked a UFC Noche event at T-Mobile.
According to Dana White, UFC attempted to book a UFC Noche date in 2024 at T-Mobile Arena on Mexican Independence Day. However, that date at T-Mobile Arena was booked by Al Haymon for a Canelo Alvarez fight.
Dana White not only saw this as a betrayal by MGM, but he also saw it as a direct challenge to his authority in Las Vegas.
In the last few months, Dana White has lashed out against the mysterious man-who-will-not-be-named at MGM for icing UFC out on Mexican Independence Day.
Curiously, Dana has not said one negative word about Al Haymon snatching that T-Mobile Arena date away from UFC.
Mr. White has repeatedly claimed that T-Mobile Arena guaranteed $25 million for the gate of the Canelo Alvarez fight. Stephen Espinoza, former Showtime Boxing executive, claims that Mr. White’s assertions of T-Mobile Arena guaranteeing an arena gate for Canelo Alvarez are false.
Mr. White has publicly praised MGM Resorts International boss Bill Hornbuckle for trying to smooth things out between UFC, MGM, and AEG. However, it does not appear — publicly — that UFC and T-Mobile Arena management will be hugging and kissing each other any time soon.
As a result of UFC losing out on their Mexican Independence Day T-Mobile Arena booking, they were granted permission by MGM to book The Sphere for their UFC Noche 2024 event. It became more than a passion project for Dana White. He and UFC were on a mission to prove a point and seek revenge against Mr. Bizzarro.
Nobody Power Slaps Dana White in the face. Especially MGM.
Mexican Independence Day turned into a proxy war for a bunch of middle-aged, rich white guys.
The question no one is asking out loud
If we agree with Mr. White’s version of the story that T-Mobile Arena gave Al Haymon the booking for the Canelo Alvarez fight instead of the UFC 306 fight event, then it raises an obvious and painful question:
Did Max Bizzarro approve Al Haymon’s booking at T-Mobile Arena because he believed the Canelo Alvarez fight would generate more revenue than a UFC show?
The answer to this question will make the powers-that-be uncomfortable.
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