Saudi Arabia - The Ultimate Fighting Championship hit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the first time this summer. On 22 June, UFC Fight Night lit up the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, with Unusual Rigging & Engineering on board to supply the full production rigging.
Richard Hoare, rigger at Unusual commented; “This event wasn’t just a first for Riyadh, but for us at Unusual too. We’ve served as house-riggers for the event when it’s taken place at the Etihad Arena previously, but on this occasion, we won the contract to supply the full scope of production rigging. We worked alongside DLM, the rigging consultants for IMG and Bowie Ebrill who was onsite overseeing the installation and removal.
“Production manager Phil Campbell of IMG, was really pleased with the work and professionalism that our team had supplied as house riggers in Abu Dhabi and was keen to carry that through for the debut of the event at Kingdom Arena.”
In terms of rigging, this was the largest ever UFC production. With 50m to the low steel and 100m x 80m floor space, the Unusual team knew from the outset this would require a vast amount of equipment. In total they supplied over 1100m of truss, 247 hoists and over 4,000 rigging items for the top rigging.
Richard added: “A typical number would be 1000, but because the roof of the venue is so high at 50m it literally eats the kit.”
Due to the sheer scale of the venue, the organisers were keen to add additional lighting packages and screens which make the production even more impressive. At four times the size of the Etihad Arena, the venue resembles an indoor football stadium.
“The size of the venue was definitely a challenge”, said Richard. “Even when putting in the stingers and dropping down the steel wire rope, the length of the rope is the equivalent to the full height of other venues we have worked in.”
Just like any event in the Middle East, last minute additions are the norm and this event was no exception, with an uplift in the lighting package added just one week before load-in that required additional 80+ hoists. However, URE swung back into action – from the design teams to the warehouse, ensuring everything was ready to go.
Phil Campbell concluded: “The URE team has been very good and helped us to deliver a fantastic show at the Kingdom Arena. Richard will always be my lead rigger in the Middle East moving forward. A great job all round.”
