Quick Definition
Open workouts are public, mostly ceremonial training sessions held during fight week, where fighters run through light drills in front of media and fans a few days before an event.
What are open workouts?
An open workout is one of the public appearances that fill the days before a UFC card. Fighters step onto a mat or a small stage, loosen up with some shadowboxing or pad work, and let the cameras roll while a crowd watches. Each athlete is usually on for about 15 minutes, and the training on show is deliberately light.
The point is promotion, not preparation. By the time fight week arrives, a fighter’s real training camp is already done, so the open workout exists to give media something to film and give fans a chance to see the athletes up close. UFC has staged these sessions on casino floors and inside shopping malls, including the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, and Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi.
Most open workouts are free and open to the public. After the drills, fighters typically take questions from reporters and stick around to sign autographs and pose for photos. For a lot of fans, it is the closest they will get to a fighter outside the arena.
What happens at an open workout?
The format rarely changes. A fighter walks out, often to their own music, and spends a few minutes on familiar movements: shadowboxing, hitting focus mitts with a coach, or rolling through some light grappling. Some barely move at all. ESPN’s MMA blog has called the sessions almost entirely ceremonial, pointing out that most fighters spend the 15 to 30 minutes doing little more than staying loose while the media watches.
What comes after the drills can matter more than the drills. Fighters usually field questions from reporters, and at fan events they sign gloves and pose for photos with whoever is closest. At UFC events in Edmonton, each workout lasted roughly 15 minutes and was followed by a Q&A and an autograph session.
A few fighters treat the platform as a show. Andrei Arlovski once turned his open workout into a comedy routine, and Jon Jones has walked out flanked by his entire team. That freedom is part of the appeal, because with nothing at stake, personalities come through in a way they rarely do inside the cage.
Open workouts vs. weigh-ins and press conferences
Open workouts are easy to mix up with the other public events of fight week, since they all put the same fighters in front of the same cameras. Their purposes differ, though, and they land on different days.
| Event | What it is | When |
|---|---|---|
| Open workout | Light, public training session for media and fans | Early in fight week, several days before the fights |
| Press conference | Fighters and UFC officials take questions from the media | Mid fight week |
| Weigh-in | Official scale check where fighters must make their division’s weight limit; a separate ceremonial weigh-in adds a public face-off | Friday, the day before the event |
The weigh-in is the one with real stakes. A fighter who misses weight can lose part of their purse or watch the bout fall apart. An open workout carries no such pressure, which is why the mood around it stays so loose.
Why fighters barely break a sweat
Newcomers to the sport sometimes assume an open workout is a genuine training session, and that a sharp-looking one means a fighter is peaking at the right time. It does not work that way. Hard sparring and conditioning belong to the training camp that wraps up before fight week even starts. Pushing hard days out from a fight would only risk injury and burn energy a fighter needs for Saturday.
So the easy pace is intentional. A light open workout says nothing about a fighter’s condition, and reading much into how someone looks on the pads is a mistake seasoned fans learn to avoid. The session is a promotional stop on the road to the cage, and the fighters treat it that way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are UFC open workouts free to attend?
Usually, yes. Most open workouts are free and open to the public, though space can be limited and some venues ask fans to register in advance.
When do open workouts happen?
Early in fight week, generally several days before the fights and ahead of the Friday weigh-in.
Do all fighters on the card take part?
Not always. Open workouts tend to include the main and co-main event fighters plus a few other notable names, rather than the whole card.
Are open workouts still held today?
Yes. They remain a standard part of UFC fight week, from numbered pay-per-views to international cards.
Do boxing and other promotions have open workouts?
Yes. Public media workouts are a long-running promotional tradition across combat sports, boxing included.
Sources
- UFC. “UFC 235 Open Workout Recap.” Accessed August 2026.
https://www.ufc.com/news/ufc-235-open-workout-recap - ESPN. “News and notes from around the Octagon.” Accessed August 2026.
https://www.espn.com/blog/mma/post/_/id/3745/news-and-notes-from-around-the-octagon - Rogers Place. “UFC Open Workouts.” Accessed August 2026.
https://www.rogersplace.com/ufc-open-workouts/ - Main Card Media. “How a UFC Event Works: Main Card, Prelims, Early Prelims Explained.” Accessed August 2026.
https://maincardmedia.com/2026/04/26/how-a-ufc-event-works-main-card-prelims-early-prelims-explained/ - Platinumlist. “Free UFC Fan Experience in Abu Dhabi: Watch Open Workouts Before Fight Night.” Accessed August 2026.
https://platinumlist.net/guide/free-ufc-fan-experience-in-abu-dhabi-watch-open-workouts-before-fight-night/
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