Trump's 80th Birthday Marked by UFC Cage Fighting on White House Lawn

President Donald Trump is marking his 80th birthday Sunday with one of the more surreal spectacles in both sports and the nation's capital: cage fighting on the White House lawn.

Against the backdrop of a 3-month-old war with Iran that’s been broadly unpopular with Americans and has rattled global oil markets and with inflation spiked to the highest level since April 2023, the White House — long known as the people’s house and a symbol of American democracy — opened its backyard Sunday night to stage a bruising UFC card on the South Lawn.

More than $60 million and tens of thousands of hours of labor have been poured into building the arena, according to a court filing from the National Park Service, which oversees the South Lawn.

The UFC is staging seven fights with all male fighters under the "Freedom 250" banner, designed to celebrate Trump’s 80th birthday and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence’s signing. The fight card, headlined by two title fights, was scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Eastern on Paramount+.

This event represents the pinnacle of the relationship between UFC CEO Dana White and Trump, a connection that has yielded personal, political, and financial dividends for both parties over 25 years. White's first card as UFC president came in 2001 at an event held at Trump Taj Mahal.

Trump has attended four UFC cards as president, walking to the cage amid rock music and patriotic chants from fans, much like the fighters themselves.

White introduced Trump at two Republican National Conventions and also attended the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April that was cut short by a shooting.

In a card that has been panned by fans online as underwhelming, Alex Pereira of Brazil was set to meet Ciryl Gane of France for the interim UFC heavyweight title.

Spanish-Georgian lightweight champion Ilia Topuria then takes on interim champ Justin Gaethje, one of just two Americans who currently hold even a share of the UFC’s 11 championship belts. There are five other fights on the main card that include former title-fight participants Michael Chandler and Derrick Lewis, and former 135-pound champion Sean O’Malley.

UFC CEO White said the show would go on rain or shine. Strong thunderstorms and heavy lightning disrupted Friday’s Lincoln Memorial promotional event, and the forecast for Sunday evening also looked threatening.

“Listen, the show goes on on Sunday. No matter what happens we’re going,” White said at Friday’s presser. “I don’t care if it rains, snows, whatever happens. We have a fight on Sunday. I’m sick and tired of hearing about the weather.”