Di Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event wey dey happen for White House don start, even as lightning tear across di evening sky as di first two fighters enter di ring. Dis championship na di first ever professional sporting event wey dem hold for presidential residence, and e don dey threatened by thunderstorms for most of di day – but e still go ahead despite initial delays.
E open with US President Donald Trump walking from di White House to di arena alongside Dana White, di chief executive of UFC. Military planes fly overhead. About 4,300 people dey expected for dis invite-only mixed martial arts event on di South Lawn, with another 85,000 expected for a nearby fan zone.
Di weather forecast wey include air thickening to humidity exceeding 70%, temperatures hovering around 80F (27C), and winds gusting through di area, mean say di action dey put off for one hour. Di original start time na 20:00 EDT (midnight GMT, 01:00 BST).
Di event coincide with President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday, wey also be Flag Day, and e part of celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary. Di crowd sing happy birthday to di president. Di seven-bout card wey dem arrange between Trump and im longtime friend Dana White, UFC president. Trump seat directly next to di Octagon, near White and several members of di Trump family. Both im sons dey for attendance. Oda administration figures present include FBI Director Kash Patel, wey dey cheer loudly from im seat.
Di fighters dem escort onto di stage by winners of di Medal of Honor – di highest award for battlefield actions – and first responders. Some of di fighters acknowledge di uniqueness of di venue on stage. “Dis na incredible,” Brazilian fighter Diego Lopes talk, wey be di first man to win on di lawn.
Di UFC spend about $60m (£45m) on di event, including $700,000 for grass repairs afterwards on a lawn wey host di annual Easter Egg Roll. Di centrepiece na di “Claw” – a 92ft high metal structure wey loom over di octagon and many of di seats. E weigh 600 tonnes. A total of 14 fighters dey compete in back-to-back fights, ending with di main card between Georgian-Spanish lightweight Ilia Topuria and American Justin Gaethje. E dey screened exclusively on Paramount+, wey run by Trump ally David Ellison.
Di ultimate winner fit be UFC – making am to di White House na fist-pumping brand boost for a sport wey dem once shun by sponsors and venues and denounce as “human cockfighting” by a US senator. Administration officials – including Trump – don repeatedly praise di event, with di president referring to am as “di greatest show on Earth” and comparing di Claw to di Eiffel Tower for Paris. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dis week laud di UFC as di “definition of American soft diplomatic power” and announce di launch of a private-public partnership to use di UFC as a diplomatic tool.
Just days before di fight, dem file a lawsuit on behalf of two Virginia residents – a Vietnam veteran and a local civic activist – to try halt di event. Di legal action, wey di Public Integrity Project file, a self-described anti-corruption law firm for Washington, argue say di event na “deeply corrupt.” E cite lack of approvals for di weigh-in at di nearby Lincoln Memorial and President Trump’s close personal and financial ties with Dana White and di UFC. But on Friday, a judge deny an emergency injunction to stop di fight – a ruling wey di White House welcome, wey describe di lawsuit as “frivolous.”
A Reuters/Ipsos poll wey dem release on Friday, however, suggest say many Americans dey sceptical of di event. Di survey find say only 16% of Americans believe am appropriate to hold di UFC fight at di White House, compared to 46% wey think am inappropriate. Only about a third of Republicans approve of di plan.
Di UFC fight na one of several marquee events wey dem plan to mark di 250th anniversary of di country, wey go include an IndyCar race around di National Mall later dis summer and a “Great American State Fair” for July. E be hot and humid day on Sunday for di nation’s capital, with mid-afternoon temperatures peaking at around 91F (33C), according to forecasts. As di heat and humidity build, scattered thunderstorms dey expected to develop into di evening, with di risk of lightning, downpours and wind gusts of over 50mph (80km).
Di summer humidity for Washington often attract an unpleasant number of insects, and di Weather Channel dey report say swarms of mosquitoes and gnats fit find dem way into di cage. E also say say a single lightning strike within eight miles of di fight fit trigger a 30-minute freeze on di event. A news conference for di event at di Lincoln Memorial on Friday dem briefly delay over “inclement weather” and fans dem urge to seek shelter.
