
UFC 246: Conor McGregor's Return to the Octagon Packs a Hefty Production Punch Production partner Concom rolls out high-tech show at T-Mobile Arena By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Friday, January 17, 2020 - 12:15 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Conor McGregor's long-awaited return to the Octagon for UFC 246 tomorrow night is expected to generate plenty of fireworks and, judging by his history, even more PPV buys for ESPN+. With ample eyeballs expected to be glued to The Notorious's showdown with Donald Cowboy Cerrone Saturday, UFC's longtime production partner Concom has rolled out a large arsenal of production firepower at Las Vegas's T-Mobile Arena, including a JITACam and augmented-reality graphics.
This is definitely one of the larger PPVs we have ever done, says Greg Louw, director, technical operations, Concom, and it would actually be even larger if we had more load-in time at the arena. Obviously, we've done [UFC events] in several stadiums where it's a larger show just because of the size of the venue, but this is definitely one of the largest PPV shows we've ever done at a domestic arena.
A Tight Timetable: Single-Day Set, Shoot, Strike
Concom, which has provided turnkey production solutions to the UFC for both in-venue and broadcast operations since 1997, facilitates everything from in-house lighting, projection, and PA to broadcast and transmission.
UFC 246 takes over T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night for Conor McGregor's return to the Octagon.
As UFC's schedule has become demanding and venues have grown busier, Concom is often forced to set, shoot, and strike PPV shows in a single day - as will be the case Saturday. Because T-Mobile hosted a Google corporate event on Thursday and a Tool concert on Friday night, Concom won't have access to the floor until roughly 3 a.m. Saturday morning.
It's an overnight load-in, which we've actually become accustomed to over the past few years, says Louw. These PPV events have grown over the years, and the biggest challenge now is trying to do more with less time allotted because the venues are so busy. Our goal over the past three or four years has been streamlining everything so the entire show is cleaner. That was the only way to make it sustainable, and I think we did a really good job of accomplishing that.
The Weigh-In: UFC Takes Over Park Theater
Vegas is already abuzz with excitement for the return of UFC's biggest star, and the festivities kick off at 6 p.m. ET with the weigh-in at the Park Theater, an MGM property adjacent to T-Mobile Arena (also an MGM property).
Concom has rolled out a separate mobile production unit, NEP's M15, at the Park Theater since its primary truck, NEP's NCPVII, will be prepping for the fight at T-Mobile Arena. Typically, Concom deploys three cameras for a weigh-in, but, with McGregor expected to draw a full house at the theater and countless more watching on the UFC YouTube channel, that number will double to six cameras (all Grass Valley LDX 86N's): three hard, two handheld, and a jib.
It will definitely be a larger [production] than a usual weigh-in, says Louw. Considering the size of the PPV and the full-house crowd [at the weigh-in], we're upping the ante on this one.
The live stream will also be fed to the LED ribbon board outside T-Mobile Arena and to the LED board in Toshiba Plaza (home to the Golden Knights) for crowds outside to view what is expected to be a lively weigh-in.
The whole environment in that area should be pretty electric, says Louw.
Inside the Octagon: JITACam, Sony HDC-4300's Play Key Roles
For the fight itself, 16 cameras will be arrayed throughout T-Mobile Arena with four cameras dedicated to the Octagon: a JITACam (jib in the air) system above, two Sony HDC-4300's (running at 6X slo-mo) on the left and right, and a Sony HDC-2500 reverse shot.
What makes our sport unique, Louw notes, is that we have the luxury of having all the action take place within a 30-ft. circumference around that Octagon, so we get really great coverage with just four handheld cameras. Two of them are 4300's at 6X speed, which account for 90% of our slo-mo replays. Those allow us to get those really dramatic shots of the fighters' faces and big hits off just two cameras, which is advantageous to us and makes for some really amazing pictures.
The JITACam has become an integral component of UFC coverage after Concom incorporated a 30-ft. rail system allowing the JITACam not only to rotate but also to travel back and forth across the Octagon.
We were the first to utilize the JITA in combat sports, says Louw, and that rail system has been a difference-maker for us. We use it as one of our four coverage cameras on the Octagon during the fights, and then it pulls back on the rail and spins around between fights to get wider shots.
Typically, Concom installs a DynamiCam mini aerial system for larger PPV events but opted not to for UFC 246 given the extremely limited load-in time.
The production team will also have at their disposal two RF cameras (one covering the crowd inside the bowl, the second serving a backstage Facebook Live show) and a robo.
Augmented Reality: UFC Gets Virtual With AR in Toshiba Plaza
Concom, UFC, and ESPN are also teaming up with Girraphic and Stype to create augmented-reality graphics for the event. The AR graphics will be featured on a jib outside the arena in Toshiba Plaza. This marks the second such collaboration, following a sizable AR deployment at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia.
We're really excited to be doing AR graphics; it's not something that we do normally, says Louw. We'll have a jib floating in the plaza over the crowd that [can be] cut to for AR graphics like tale-of-the-tape and [comparisons between] fighters. We
North America Stories
15/04/2026
Image courtesy of MD Helicopters...
15/04/2026
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, L3Harris VP Mark Farley, and state and local l...
15/04/2026
U.S. Space Forces Ground-Based Optical Sensor System upgrade at the Maui Space S...
15/04/2026
NBCU-Versant notches 13.1% of TV viewing in February, its best since August 2024...
15/04/2026
New data reveals older Kiwis are financially resilient, loyal to local products,...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Evergent introduces its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform, transforming how subscription businesses across direct-to-consumer streaming, pay-TV, telecommun...
15/04/2026
Harmonic's XOS Media Processor Delivers Exceptional Video Quality to More than Half of U.S. Public Media Viewership
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announce...
15/04/2026
LONGMONT, COLORADO, APRIL 15, 2026 DPA Microphones N Series Digital Wireless System users in North America can now take full advantage of the system's exc...
15/04/2026
Cobalt Iron, a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced the launch of Compass Tape Gateway (CTG), a transformative enhancemen...
15/04/2026
Disguise to Showcase Cutting-Edge Experience Tech for Sports, Broadcast and More...
15/04/2026
Arooj Aftab Makes the Music She Wants to Hear The singular artist explores the juxtaposition of grief and joy, dark and light, in her distinctive sound.
Apri...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Interra Systems, a provider of end-to-end quality assurance solutions for the digital media industry, is proud to announce its central role in the digital trans...
15/04/2026
VO Integrates Client-Side and Server-Side Ad Technologies with its Secure Video Player and Segmentation Tools, Leveraging Broadpeak's SSAI and BPK SmartLib ...
15/04/2026
TMT Insights, a leader in professional services and software development for the media and entertainment (M&E) industry, today announced the launch of TMT AI at...
15/04/2026
Encompass Digital Media, a global leader in managed broadcast and cloud-based media services, today announced an expanded partnership with Oracle Cloud Infrastr...
15/04/2026
Middleman Software, a leading provider of signaling and synchronization solutions for broadcast and streaming workflows, today announced it will unveil PhaseLoc...
15/04/2026
Deity Microphones today announced the PR-4, a compact six-track field recorder featuring four inputs, 32-bit float recording, advanced routing, and a workflow-f...
15/04/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Fairlight Live
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
Powerful software-based live audio mixer with support for SMPTE-2110...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Strategic Alignment With the Riedel Group for Innovation and Growth
Thomas Riedel, founder and owner of Riedel Communications and the Riedel Group, has acqui...
15/04/2026
SDVI, the leading platform provider for cloud-native media supply chains, today announced that the company's Rally platform has been deployed by Iyuno Media...
15/04/2026
Frequency, the engine behind many of the worlds leading streaming television channels, has become the platform of choice for leading U.S. broadcasters bringing ...
15/04/2026
New Service Simplifies Integration of AI Applications with Exceptional Reliability and Security
SAN JOSE, Calif. April 14, 2026 Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) t...
15/04/2026
During the 2025 off-season, VIDI completed a major upgrade of the broadcast infrastructure across all 36 stadiums in Germany's 1st and 2nd Bundesliga. The p...
15/04/2026
Clear-Com announced significant updates to its award-winning Arcadia Central Station as well as enhancements to the Eclipse HX Digital Matrix System now runn...
15/04/2026
Shotoku Introduces the World to Aura P2 PTZ Prompter Panner at NAB SHOW 2026
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
New system removes PTZ pan restric...
15/04/2026
LiveU Announces Expanded Collaboration with Sony at NAB Show, Adding Direct File...
15/04/2026
This 24-Hour Performance Art Piece Needs Your Participation Keefer Glenshaws latest project is about collaborating with the Berklee community and beyond.
Apr...
15/04/2026
Traditional data centers only stored, retrieved and processed data. In the generative and agentic AI era, these facilities have evolved into AI token factories....
15/04/2026
The NAB Show 2026 trade show, running April 18-22 in Las Vegas, is set to showcase a wave of new features and optimizations for top video editing applications. ...
14/04/2026
Haivision has announced the Falkon X4, a 5G mobile video transmitter for live broadcast and remote production. The device will be showcased at NAB Show 2026.
...
14/04/2026
Founded by veterans of the production-truck world, Stripe TV was born out of a d...
14/04/2026
Grass Valley has expanded its partnership with Studio Berlin, supplying 12 LDX 135 UHD/HDR camera systems and 12 LDX 180 Super 35mm cinematic cameras, including...
14/04/2026
LTN has announced two senior appointments ahead of NAB Show 2026: Mark Romano as Vice President, Multichannel Platforms, and Edward Cox as Vice President, Sales...
14/04/2026
Sennheiser and Italian rental company Agor have begun preparations for their Eu...
14/04/2026
DAZN and ADI Predictstreet have announced a partnership to integrate ADI Predict...
14/04/2026
Deltatre has announced the completion of a direct-to-fan website and app for Leg...
14/04/2026
Daktronics, will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 in partnership with Grass Valley at Booth C2408, Las Vegas Convention Center, April 19-22.
Daktronics will showcase a...
14/04/2026
Backblaze will host a series of partner presentations at NAB Show 2026 (Booth N1259, North Hall), open to all exhibition hall badge holders. Showcase partners i...
14/04/2026
BRAHMA AI will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2415, West Hall), demonstrating its Enterprise AI Content Platform for media, entertainment, sports, and technol...
14/04/2026
Bridge Technologies has announced that its VB440 production probe has been integrated into NEP Platform, NEP Group's software orchestration system. The inte...