UFC fighter Dan Ige enjoys the convenience of fighting at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, but identifies the main drawback as incessant heckling due to the intimate size of the venue.
Dan Ige, a UFC fighter, had the unique experience of fighting at the UFC APEX, the company’s in-house arena in Las Vegas, during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the company has shifted some of its fights to the APEX, Ige has had to adapt to this new environment. However, the absence of roaring crowds and the relative silence of the arena have brought unforeseen challenges. Despite living just a short drive away, Ige has had to contend with a persistent heckler whose taunts echo through the arena, a drawback he has noticed at the APEX.
The UFC began hosting fights at the APEX during the pandemic and the venue continues to serve as a regular location for broadcasts. However, the tickets for these fights are quite expensive, starting at $1,650, resulting in sparse crowds. Ige, who lives in Las Vegas, enjoys the convenience of the location, but has had to deal with a recurring problem: a single, annoying heckler. No matter the crowd size, this heckler seems to always find their way in, constantly yelling and trying to disrupt his fights.
Ige specifically recalls his encounter with the heckler during a January fight with Damon Jackson. During the fight, after Ige landed what he knew to be a legal blow, the heckler began shouting him down, accusing him of cheating. It was an incredibly frustrating experience for Ige, who wanted nothing more than to confront the heckler. However, he maintained his composure, even when his opponent’s coach, Sayif Saud, intervened to tell the heckler to quiet down.
As the match continued and the heckler continued to shout, Ige dealt with the issue in his own way: delivering a knockout punch to his opponent. This ultimately silenced the heckler and allowed Ige to release his own shout in that direction. Despite learning long ago how to ignore distractions during his fights, Ige admits the structure of the APEX makes it all the more challenging to ignore the crowd. It’s a struggle he will likely have to deal with once again as he prepares to return to the APEX for another fight against Bryce Mitchell.