There may be swarms of bugs, rain showers and thunderstorms, but this isn\u2019t Exodus, or the apocalypse: the president of the United States will host the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) at the White House on Sunday, his 80th birthday.<\/p>\n
The iconic South Lawn \u2013 typically used by presidents to board Marine One on their way to summits, funerals and wars \u2013 has been blanketed by an octagon<\/a>, ringed by thousands of seats in a mini coliseum, and dominated by a 92ft, 600-ton steel structure organizers have nicknamed \u201cthe Claw\u201d, not unlike the alien tripods from the 2005 film War of the Worlds<\/a>.<\/p>\n A tennis court was built at the White House in 1902. There are not one, but two, bowling alleys. Barack Obama added a basketball court in 2009. But never before has a major professional sporting event been staged on the grounds of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.<\/p>\n The extraordinary event was the idea of Trump himself, according<\/a> to UFC president Dana White, reinforcing the president\u2019s ties with a league which has amassed an enormous fanbase around a core demographic of young men. But critics have called it a blood sport.<\/p>\n Workers install a setup ahead of the \u2018UFC Freedom 250\u2019 fights on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington DC on 11 June 2026. Photograph: Evan Vucci\/Reuters<\/p>\n The spectacle has been tightly controlled, with stands packed with US armed forces members required to meet strict weight-to-height and fitness specifications.<\/p>\n Trump is shrewd about what his fans \u2013 the Maga base which sent him back to the White House in November 2024 \u2013 wants to see, according to biographer Gwenda Blair. \u201cThey want to see this anti-elite, anti-upper-crust, anti-upper-class event,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s on the White House lawn? That is rubbing everybody\u2019s face in it. It\u2019s a version of bragging.\u201d<\/p>\n As workers erected scaffolding and vendor tents on the lawn this week, the final countdown to \u201cUFC Freedom 250\u201d was somewhat overshadowed by ominous weather forecasts, and a legal bid to block the event from taking place altogether.<\/p>\n UFC has never before staged a fully outdoor event in its 33-year history. The one previous outdoor attempt, a 2010 show in Abu Dhabi, was held in a venue that was at least partially covered. This one has no roof at all.<\/p>\n The National Weather Service forecast for Sunday evening<\/a> currently shows a \u201clikely\u201d chance of thunderstorms in Washington DC right around the time the main event begins. UFC has two meteorologists on site, drawing from two separate data sources, filing weather updates every hour.<\/p>\n People look out at the \u2018UFC Freedom 250\u2019 arena from the Washington Monument in Washington DC on 12 June 2026. Photograph: Bonnie Cash\/UPI\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n All the while, a lawsuit filed last weekend<\/a> by the watchdog group Public Integrity Project sought an emergency injunction. The suit argues the administration erroneously relied on a rule meant for federally organized commemorations of the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary to justify an event that, by White\u2019s own admission, was Trump\u2019s idea. A judge ultimately denied the request<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n The complaint had also pointed to Trump\u2019s financial disclosures, which showed that the president bought up to $50,000 in stock<\/a> in TKO Group Holdings, the UFC\u2019s parent company, earlier this year.<\/p>\n The administration pressed on, undeterred \u2013 championing what it pitched as the UFC\u2019s virtues, from drug testing to diplomacy.<\/p>\n At the White House media day<\/a> on Wednesday, Sara Carter, a former Fox News contributor now serving as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, presented Derrick \u201cThe Black Beast\u201d Lewis \u2013 one of Trump\u2019s favorite UFC fighters \u2013 with recognition for 75 consecutive clean drug tests, and declared him to be an example for children everywhere.<\/p>\n Construction continues on the UFC \u2018Claw\u2019 and the octagon fighting ring on the South Lawn of the White House on 11 June 2026 in Washington DC. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Lewis thanked her, before telling reporters that he didn\u2019t have anything against drugs, generally, but marijuana every now and then helps him out. If anyone wanted to give him a medal for it, he said, he\u2019d take it.<\/p>\n A day later, Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, signed a memorandum of understanding<\/a> establishing a public-private partnership between the state department and the UFC. Rubio called the promotion the \u201cUnited Nations of fighting\u201d, arguing that a UFC crowd is one of the few places left where people from different backgrounds gather around something they share. The administration signed a similar memorandum with the NFL earlier this year.<\/p>\n The focus now turns to Sunday night\u2019s proceedings: seven fights on the South Lawn. The main event pits undefeated lightweight champion Ilia Topuria, from Spain, against the interim champion Justin Gaethje, from the US, in a unification bout. The co-main event, between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane, will crown an interim heavyweight champion. Lewis will also feature.<\/p>\n About 4,300 people are expected in the stands, including about 1,200 seats set aside for active-duty military personnel. Those seats came with conditions. According to a Pentagon memo reviewed by Military Times<\/a>, service members selected for tickets were required to meet a waist-to-height ratio of 0.55 or below, and pass their service-specific physical fitness standards. The memo also called for \u201cgenuine UFC fans\u201d, and made clear troops would cover their own travel costs.<\/p>\n Donald Trump attends the UFC 299 mixed martial arts event at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, on 9 March 2024. Photograph: Giorgio Viera\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n But not everyone got through the door. Sean Strickland, the only active American men\u2019s UFC champion, says he was told<\/a> the White House had not cleared him to attend, a decision he attributed to comments he made criticizing Trump, Israel and Jeffrey Epstein. (White denied that Strickland, who has a history<\/a> of making racist, sexist and homophobic comments, was banned.)<\/p>\n The remaining tickets will go to the president, UFC leadership and a long list of donors, lobbyists and members of US Congress angling for seats near the cage.<\/p>\n Whether the weather cooperates remains to be seen. But barring a badly timed thunderstorm, under the lights, the White House will stage an event without precedent, at the behest of the president.<\/p>\n David Smith contributed reporting<\/p>\n