UFC unveils new project with Zuckerberg company — RT Sport News

The UFC is known for bragging that its brand is ‘as real as it gets’, but it could be set to become much more ‘real’ for viewers after it was revealed on Thursday that the fight league has partnered with Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta to stream VR battle maps.

Facebook creator Zuckerberg has been an avid believer in virtual reality technology, investing up to $1.2 billion in his « Metaverse » concept – a platform that could perhaps be best described as a integration of standard video calls and 3D technology.

But while the Metaverse has been mired in negative publicity amid rumors of a shrinking user base and less than impressive user experiences, that hasn’t stopped Zuckerberg, who is a presence a constant on lists encompassing the world’s richest entrepreneurs, trying to forge new ground in his bid to get the world to embrace VR technology.

It was announced Thursday that Zuckerberg’s Meta has partnered with the UFC to stream virtual reality fight cards, starting this Friday with an LFA event that the UFC owns the streaming rights to on its Fight Pass platform and which, according to a press release, will allow fight fans an opportunity to watch fights with other fans in real time. »while enjoying unprecedented VR views of all the thrilling action in the LFA Octagon, including strikes, takedowns, holds and more.”

« We are excited to bring an unprecedented level of engagement to Fight Pass subscribers and MMA fans around the world by producing a live MMA event in virtual reality.said Crowley Sullivan, president and general manager of UFC Fight Pass.

« With Meta providing the VR platform and YBVR contributing its production expertise, we’re confident this will be a great experience for fight fans..”

Zuckerberg recently turned heads by attending a UFC card at the organization’s Apex facilities outside of Las Vegas – a development that led to the UFC temporarily restricting fan and media access.

It also drew criticism from fighters on the card, with some suggesting they received reduced media attention as a result of the UFC executive order.

Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan could be seen several times on the show cheering on the fights from the cage.

The Facebook chief has also posted images on social media in recent weeks showing him taking part in mixed martial arts training.

It is expected that more battle maps to stream in VR will be announced in the coming weeks.

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