ANOTHER O2 Arena London Wheelchair Accessibility Review (For UFC Fight Night London 2018)

The view from W108 in the O2 arena. There are empty seats directly across the arena from this spots with 3 large screens at eye level and then the cage some distance below in the the centre of the arena.
The view from W108 in the O2 arena. There are empty seats directly across the arena from this spots with 3 large screens at eye level and then the cage some distance below in the the centre of the arena.

I know I’ve reviewed The O2 Arena before but this one specifically focuses on my experience at UFC Fight Night London 2018, which was so different to all my previous experiences. As usual, I’ll be splitting it into the ticket buying process, the journey to/from venue and seating/general experience at the event.

In terms of the ticket buying process, it was no different than my other O2 Arena experiences, other than the fact I got these tickets on presale rather than general sale.

Travel was way more complex due to Tube upgrades meaning Piccadilly and Metropolitan lines both didn’t run from Uxbridge. Getting there involved taking the U3 bus to Heathrow Central, then the Piccadilly line from Heathrow to Green Park and THEN the Jubilee line to North Greenwich. The return journey involved getting the Jubilee line to Bond Street where there were “access issues” to put it politely (dragging a powered wheelchair off a tube train to avoid being crushed by the doors is no mean feat , add to that the pathetic apology I received on the night and post complaint about the access issues and you have a a pretty standard Tube trip in a wheelchair. These are issues I often face as a wheelchair user on the Tube. There was then a loooooooooooong trip on the N207 back to Uxbridge (Night buses on St Patrick’s Day also no fun!)

The experience & seating was where I noticed the most difference. We had a much poorer view from W108 as opposed to W101 where I’ve been every other time. We were placed right at the back of the venue and were not guided or directed to our seats or even to the lift to get to our seats. Neither were we directed out towards the lift to exit when the event ended, (even though it was PRETTY obvious we were struggling to make it through the droves of people who were also trying to exit), despite having asked multiple staff about the location of said lift. Out of sight, out of mind I guess if you’re a disabled guest with a seat at the back of the venue? And to top it off, we were almost crushed trying to get back into North Greenwich station after the event. (For a tube station right next to a major venue, crowd control measures at North Greenwich don’t really seem to exist, and neither does the decency of fellow fans to not crush me as they try to re-enter the station. Lack of crowd control lead to the access issues at Bond Street that I described above.

*I can now add to this that, having also sat in W105 at UFC London July 2022, W101 is still the best access platform view wise as it is the only access platform on the ground as far as I am aware. Whereas W105 and W105 are on both of the first floor of the arena and this means that, for the fights particularly, you have to watch the big screens rather than the cage itself to understand the intricacies of the live action. Feel free to compare the view from 108 (image at the top of this post) with the views from 101 and 105 (photos below) and let me know what you think!

View from W101 access platform at the O2 arena shows the arena from ground level with the UFC Octagon directly ahead in the centre of the arena

View from W101 access platform at the O2 arena shows the arena from ground level with the UFC Octagon directly ahead in the centre of the arena

View from W105 access platform at the O2 Arena. The view shows all the way down the tiered seating of the 105 section as well as the majority of the floor seating before the UFC Octagon can be seen on the far side of the arena. There are also 2 large screen which are placed at the other side of the arena but eye level with the W105 platforms

View from W105 access platform at the O2 Arena. The view shows all the way down the tiered seating of the 105 section as well as the majority of the floor seating before the UFC Octagon can be seen on the far side of the arena. There are also 2 large screen which are placed at the other side of the arena but eye level with the W105 platforms

*It’s worth adding to this that, according to the experience in this (linked) tweet thread from one of my Twitter followers, you might as well not bother trying to get a drink FROM the bar if you need to use the wheelchair accessible/lowered bar section. Staff (by their own admission) haven’t been briefed that the lowered bar is meant for wheelchair users, and the tills and pay points in that section of the bar don’t work so you’d have to have someone head to the standard height section of the bar to pay on your behalf anyway! Even if you do get served at the lowered bar, it will likely require someone from the standard height section of the bar pointing the bar staff in your direction.

I feel like the experience in this tweet thread is just more evidence that venues often think of access as purely getting disabled people INTO the building and don’t think beyond that. Accessibility means disabled people being able to access EVERY part of an event the same as everyone else.  That also means being able to go to the bar and get a drink independently should we so choose.

The joys of just trying to see some MMA action as a disabled fan! I’m genuinely a little disappointed in you, O2 Arena… I always hype you up as a great venue for access and customer service as a disabled guest, and this time you let me down.

Stay Invincible!

Em (InvincibleWomanOnWheels)