This cinematic promo ramps up anticipation for the UFC193 championship showdown between the dominant “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey and former 19-time world boxing champion Holly Holm, undefeated in her mixed martial arts career. The historic event will take place at the 70,000-seat Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday, November 14.
Director Neil Huxley helmed the promo out of Digital Domain’s sister production company Mothership and came up with the concept with Mothership associate creative director Aaron Shact, who also wrote the script. Elevating the traditional adrenaline-fueled sports promo, Huxley creates a myth-making live action film about the heroic journeys of two women who are changing the way the world thinks about the primal appeal of combat sports.
The emotion-driven narrative takes the viewer back in time, showing the young girls’ inspiration to begin a lifelong journey through blood, sweat and sacrifice to reach the ultimate reward of the octagon.
Huxley lets the viewer discover what is unfolding through the portrayal of the actresses playing younger versions of the fighters.
The scenes get bigger and more intense as time passes. Rousey’s ferocious spirit is chronicled from childhood training with her mom; in the principal’s office with a bloody lip; and winning the bronze medal at the Olympic Games. Holm’s story is depicted through glimpses of her at a church service with a black eye; her bloody, crushing loss against boxer Anne Sophie Mathis; and then, getting back in the ring with Mathis to win the IBF female and WBAN welterweight titles.
Shact chose Ludovico Einaudi’s “Experience” to soundtrack the film. The stirring piano composition delivers an aspirational edge, giving a build through their history to the present-day, where Ronda and Holm now play themselves, fiercely training before they face each other on November 14. The dramatic telling pulls us along in its inexorable momentum, beautifully rendering the epic transformation to gladiator in all its painful and triumphant glory.
