{"id":700144,"date":"2026-05-28T14:07:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T14:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/700144\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T14:07:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T14:07:11","slug":"mma-fighting-arena-trumps-latest-white-house-construction-project-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/700144\/","title":{"rendered":"MMA fighting arena Trump\u2019s latest White House construction project \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A hulking metal arena is rising on the White House\u2019s South Lawn as US<\/a> \u200cpresident Donald Trump<\/a> pursues a spate of construction projects, and is set to host a night of mixed martial arts fighting to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence.<\/p>\n

The arena is being assembled on a stretch of the grounds used for presidents\u2019 Marine One helicopter departures and annual Easter egg rolls and picnics, alongside tennis and basketball courts, a horseshoe pit and a garden honouring presidents\u2019 children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n

UFC<\/a>, the professional mixed martial arts league run by \u200bTrump ally Dana White, will stage a night of bouts at the US executive mansion on June 14th as part of the country\u2019s independence celebrations. The event will \u2060coincide with Trump\u2019s 80th birthday.<\/p>\n

Four pieces of giant metal scaffolding now rise in front of the White House, looming \u200cover \u200cthe \u200bTruman Balcony, a columned terrace overlooking the South Lawn. Video screens will be suspended from them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe octagon,\u201d the eight-sided metal cage in which combatants fight, will sit inside, ringed \u2060with a chain-link fence. White dubbed \u200bthe arena \u201cThe Claw\u201d in an interview with the New \u200bYorker magazine.<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople on a Segway tour pass near the White House as construction continues for the upcoming UFC match. Photograph: Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images \"ConstructionConstruction continues for the upcoming UFC match on the South Lawn of the White House Photograph: Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

More than 4,000 spectators will watch the fight in the arena, Trump and White have said, with many tickets \u200cgoing to military personnel. Officials are also planning viewing \u200bareas on the Ellipse, a 21-hectare park south of the White House, with aims to accommodate an additional 100,000 people. Weigh-ins \u2060will be held at the Lincoln Memorial.<\/p>\n

Trump, who plans \u2060to watch the bouts \u200bringside, was an early backer of UFC when White took over the professional circuit in 2001. Trump allowed White to use his casino properties to host events when the fights were largely unregulated and, in some quarters, seen as seedy and unethical.<\/p>\n

The late Arizona Republican senator John McCain, a US war hero and amateur boxer, derided the contests as \u201chuman cockfighting\u201d.<\/p>\n

His opposition, amplified by his influence in Congress, pushed UFC to seek state regulatory approval and build broader legitimacy in the early 2000s. In August 2025, it signed a $7.7 billion (\u20ac6.6 billion) media rights deal with Paramount.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Donald Trump\u2019s monuments are about more than ego \u2013 they hint at a dynastyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The White \u200cHouse complex is already home \u2060to another big construction project: Trump\u2019s $400 million state ballroom, which opponents have criticised as a vanity project but which the president says is needed for national security.<\/p>\n

The arena and the new ballroom are just two \u200cof the projects Trump has launched since returning to the White House in January 2025.<\/p>\n

He has also ordered the renovation of Lafayette Square, a public park \u200bon the north side of the White House, and repainting the Reflecting Pool between \u200bthe Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. He is also planning to build what he calls Independence Arch, reminiscent of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, except much bigger. \u2013 Reuters<\/p>\n

\"WorkersWorkers construct a UFC fighting ring ahead of a planned Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, next month. Photograph: Al Drago\/Bloomberg \"ConstructionConstruction crews continue to work on a structure for the upcoming UFC match on the South Lawn of the White House. Photograph: by Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A hulking metal arena is rising on the White House\u2019s South Lawn as US \u200cpresident Donald Trump pursues…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,2490,786,785,85,787,1055],"class_list":["post-700144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-donald-trump","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}