Video footage emerges from an MMA event that put virtual reality users into the thick of the fighting action – Yahoo News

Virtual reality in MMA.Photo by LFA

UFC and Meta's partnership began with a new project at a Legacy Fighting Alliance show Friday.

Virtual reality users could watch the show using multiple angles and seating positions.

Keep scrolling for three highlights from the event including one huge knockout and celebration.

Video footage has emerged from an MMA event Saturday that put virtual reality users into the thick of the fighting action.

Multiple angles and seating positions could be found for those who watched the Legacy Fighting Alliance 144 show Friday on Meta's Horizon Worlds.

Insider reported last week about UFC's new partnership with Meta, which came on the heels of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's attendance at an eerily exclusive MMA event earlier this month.

In a statement sent to Insider, UFC said its broadcast arm UFC Fight Pass will deliver live MMA events "in VR in Meta's Horizon Worlds an immersive social experience app available on the Meta Quest 2 headset."

The new headset, launched this month, retails at $1,499.99, according to the Meta website.

The project began Friday with the LFA 144 event in South Dakota, which was topped with a bantamweight title bout involving Muin Gafurov and Diego Silva.

One clip showed users what it's like walking to the arena:

Japanese fighter Yuma Horiuchi advanced his pro MMA record to nine wins (two knockouts, five submissions, and two decisions) against four losses with his third-round victory against Juan Puerta via rear-naked choke.

This is what that finish looked like through VR:

Arguably the best VR highlight to come from the night, though, came when Muin Gafurov finished Diego Silva with a spinning back kick to the body in the third round of their match.

If the knockout was not good enough, Gafurov's raucous celebration became something VR users would have experienced at point-blank range when the Tajikstan athlete mounted the fence.

Watch it here:

According to a UFC statement sent to Insider, the LFA 144 was not the only MMA event that will get Meta's VR treatment.

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The UFC's digital broadcast channel Fight Pass "plans to offer similar VR experiences around select combat sports events in the future," the statement said.

These shows can also be watched traditionally without VR headsets.

The UFC returns Saturday with a pay-per-view offering, UFC 280, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev fight for the UFC lightweight championship in a main event that also sees Aljamain Sterling put his bantamweight belt on the line against T.J. Dillashaw.

Petr Yan fights Sean O'Malley earlier in a show that also sees Beneil Dariush fight Mateusz Gamrot.

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Video footage emerges from an MMA event that put virtual reality users into the thick of the fighting action - Yahoo News