The UFC Apex is still alive and kicking.
What was thought to get left in 2020 has stuck around for the presumable longhaul despite UFC CEO, Dana White’s, claims that the promotion will eventually fully depart its Las Vegas-based fight venue. Until then, fans can look forward to UFC Vegas 86 headlined by more Middleweight action, featuring Jack Hermansson vs. Joe Pyfer this weekend (Sat., Feb. 10, 2024).
The event will be the second consecutive UFC Apex show in back-to-back weeks and former UFC commentator and one-time Welterweight title challenger, Dan Hardy, questions whether or not cards in the venue are naturally promoting stalled or slower fights.
“If you’re in an arena with 16,000 people and you’re 150 rows back, and you’ve had a couple of beers, and the fight’s slowed down, and these guys are dancing around and staring at one another,” Hardy said on his YouTube channel. “You’re like (sighs). At some point, you might just decide you’re gonna go, ‘Booooo!’ Then a few people around you might start to join in.
“In an arena where you’ve got 15,000 people, you can kind of blend in,” he continued. “Although a few people around you might turn and go, ‘This guy’s being a d—k. He’s not appreciating the athletic ability or skill and risk that these guys are taking to step into this Octagon and entertain us tonight. He’s had a few beers and he’s being obnoxious.’ In an arena, that happens. People are gonna be far more self-conscious at the Apex where there are like 300 people there. I think we get a lot less booing and jeering from the crowd at the Apex because it’s a smaller crowd in a smaller space.”
Hardy, 41, hasn’t fought since his unanimous decision win over Amir Sadollah in September 2012. Therefore, he missed out on the more intimate fight atmospheres created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Still familiar with the settings, Hardy was working with UFC on commentary in the middle of the Fight Island boom before the UFC Apex became the primary Fight Night home.
“I think even in a bigger arena, even if it’s subconscious, the referees are gonna be prompted a bit more by the crowd to separate the fighters to break stalling positions,” Hardy said.
“I think fights in a big arena, there’s just a different kind of intensity to it,” he concluded.