The UFC offered a particular cultural celebration at UFC 306 on September 14, 2024, as octagon ladies wore elaborate Day of the Lifeless-themed costumes on the Sphere in Las Vegas. The occasion, titled Noche UFC, coincided with Mexican Independence Day weekend and served as what UFC President Dana White described as a “love letter to Mexico.
Dia de los Muertos
Day of the Lifeless, or Dia de los Muertos, is a Mexican vacation noticed on November 1 and a pair of that honors deceased family members. The custom originated from Indigenous Mesoamerican peoples, notably the Aztecs, who seen dying as a continuation of life moderately than an ending. When Spanish colonizers arrived within the sixteenth century, they launched Catholic observances like All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, which blended with indigenous rituals to create the fashionable Day of the Lifeless celebration.
The vacation facilities on creating ofrendas, or altars, embellished with marigold flowers, pictures of the departed, their favourite meals, and candles. Households imagine these choices information spirits again from the afterlife to go to the dwelling. Sugar skulls, referred to as calaveras de azucar, function ornamental parts on altars and characterize the cycle of life and dying.
The celebration focuses on pleasure moderately than mourning, permitting households to reconnect with deceased kin by colourful parades, conventional meals, and festive gatherings. Many contributors put on elaborate cranium face paint and costumes to commemorate the departed.
UFC Octagon Ladies
Eight new octagon ladies participated within the occasion, with six native-born Mexican girls and two second-generation Mexican Individuals. The roster included Hannah Esparza, Ayled Coreno, Ariadna Vidal, Karla Espiritu, Valeria Galvan, and Dany Lule, amongst others. Every lady wore customized wardrobe and make-up aligned with totally different thematic chapters offered all through the occasion.
Seven-time Emmy Award-winning costume designer Marina Toybina created the intricate costumes for the octagon ladies. Toybina, who has designed for main artists together with Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and The Masked Singer, introduced her experience in mixing storytelling with visible spectacle to the UFC occasion. The costumes featured a number of distinct types honoring Mexican heritage. Some octagon ladies wore conventional Mexican-inspired outfits, whereas others embodied the “Sacred Coronary heart” theme with beautiful black web robes, elaborate face make-up, and headdresses.
The make-up designs integrated Day of the Lifeless parts, together with intricate face paint resembling sugar cranium decorations. Make-up artists Lisette Santana and Mara Rouse created the detailed seems to be on a number of octagon ladies. The designs featured colourful patterns, floral motifs, and skeletal imagery attribute of Dia de los Muertos celebrations.
UFC 306’s manufacturing staff created six 90-second movie chapters showcasing totally different durations in Mexican historical past, with every section accompanied by corresponding visible themes mirrored within the octagon ladies‘ apparel. The occasion generated a record-breaking $22 million stay gate, turning into the highest-grossing occasion in UFC historical past. The flowery manufacturing, which value roughly $20 million, featured customized fighter kits, unique movies directed by Carlos López Estrada, and unprecedented integration of Sphere’s cutting-edge expertise.
