UFC CEO Dana White revealed Saturday on “My View with Lara Trump” that he and President Donald Trump are gearing up to give away tens of thousands of tickets to the first-ever planned fight at the White House in honor of both the president’s birthday and the country’s 250th birthday.
White said his head of production is working on UFC Freedom 250 “24/7.” A temporary arena that will hold 4,300 spectators will be constructed, and Trump wants to give most of those tickets to military personnel.
White also mentioned organizers will give away 85,000 tickets to fans, who will be able to watch the fights from the Ellipse. The public park just south of the White House will be set up with huge screens, stages, music and other audience activations.
“If you are a fan of the UFC and especially if you have never been to Washington, D.C., we’re going to give away about 85,000 tickets,” White said.
Fans can register for those tickets completely free of charge, he said, encouraging Ultimate Fighting enthusiasts to make the trip.
“We’re going to be doing all kinds of things, you know, in D.C. for fans, and it’s really a cool city… If you’re a UFC fan, this is absolutely positively the time to come to D.C.,” he added.
White said only lightning could threaten the fight, noting that he dislikes outdoor events because they’re “way too unpredictable.”
“If it rains, we’re going. If it snows, we’re going. The only thing that will stop us is lightning. But we’re working with the military,” he said.
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The military is set to notify White’s team of the weather forecast every hour during the seven days leading up to the event. Even if lightning strikes, or at least threatens to, the event could be moved earlier or later in the day, White said.
“So these are all things that we’ll be playing with the week of the event on top of all the other things that we will have going on, which we never had to deal with.”
“The only time I’d ever agreed to do an outdoor event was in Abu Dhabi… I could be the weatherman in Abu Dhabi and I would be right every time,” he added.
