Dropick has helped prepare T-Mobile for hosting McGregor's first MMA fight in nearly two yearsUFC
UFC Senior VP/Event Development & Operations PETE DROPICK has been helping lay the groundwork for UFC 229 for the past several months, and this Saturday he’ll see his team’s efforts come to fruition with the culmination of the main event between KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV and CONOR MCGREGOR. Dropick, who has been with UFC since ’06 following a stint with Honda Center, took THE DAILY through the last few days leading up to the fights and how he prepares for every unexpected issue that may come his way.
NO SMALL THING: From my perspective, this is the biggest event we’ve ever produced -- both in size, scope, and hopefully viewership. We had a free press conference open to the public Thursday, then Friday are the weigh-ins. It’s very exciting, but an event of this magnitude can be very stressful. We’ve been having planning meetings with the event operation teams over the past month, as well as ticketing. Those meetings continued this week internally along with our coordination with the T-Mobile Arena staff and local law enforcement. McGregor is our biggest star, and he brings a lot of passionate fans with him. All aspects of the event are elevated when he’s involved. But T-Mobile is essentially a home game for us, so that certainly helps with the planning and execution.
LAST MINUTE PREP: After the weigh-ins, I’m at T-Mobile coordinating with the arena staff, making sure everybody is on track -- our back-of-house is in good shape, our security is comfortable with the resources they have, for example. With Friday and Saturday, the priority for my groups is to really deliver a great fan experience. Friday night we have a sponsor launch party here at HQ, then it’s an early start Saturday, wake up and see if anything changed overnight. I’ll get down to the arena a few hours before we open doors. One of the first things I’ll do is check in with our operations team again, security and ticketing groups. I’ll take a walk of the floor, make sure the setup looks good, walk back-of house, then typically I’ll also be checking in with DANA WHITE to keep him posted on how we stand with ticket sales. I’ll make sure he’s comfortable with our plans that are in place and see if there are any issues that have caught his attention. Based on demand for this event, I’ll also be handling any last-minute ticket requests. We have a good handful of VIPs, key partners and celebrities coming. It’s really just troubleshooting. Our team will execute, and if I’m not getting calls then things are good. Then hopefully we see some amazing fights and the event delivers.
THE WIND DOWN: Saturday I’ll also be keeping an eye on Syracuse football through ESPN+ while I’m at the arena. I’ve very happy with the direction the program’s going. Then my family and I just moved into a new house, so Sunday will hopefully be about relaxing there and maybe finding some time to organize a few more things. I’ll catch some NFL too, we’re excited for the Raiders to get here in a couple years. Between them and the Golden Knights’ run last year, Vegas has really turned into a great sports city.
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