{"id":3690,"date":"2026-06-14T11:33:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T11:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3690"},"modified":"2026-06-14T11:33:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T11:33:22","slug":"to-ufc-fighters-the-white-houses-small-swampy-octagon-is-the-perfect-venue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3690","title":{"rendered":"To UFC fighters, the White House\u2019s small, swampy octagon is the perfect venue"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UFC has packed many of the biggest arenas, but the card competitors wanted to be on most was the one with the worst conditions, the smallest crowd and huge logistical nightmares.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Rod Brind\u2019Amour\u2019s Hurricanes 60 minutes from a Cup, with Vegas still daring a Game 7<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
The UFC octagon is set up on the South Lawn of the White House, surrounded by about 4,300 seats for Sunday’s event. (Per Haljestam\/Imagn Images\/Reuters Connect)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Of all the places the Ultimate Fighting Championship has staged events, the White House might be the least suitable. The temporary arena for UFC Freedom 250 sits outdoors on the White House\u2019s South Lawn, covered only by a canopy barely bigger than the octagon itself.<\/p>\n

If it rains, as forecast, the fighters may be sloshing through puddles of blood and sweat. And even if the octagon does not become a giant Slip \u2019N Slide, the swampy night air will soak the fighters. Not to mention the gnats and mosquitoes.<\/p>\n

And yet the UFC\u2019s fighters have been begging for months to be there. Two of the organization\u2019s greatest champions, Jon Jones and Conor McGregor, neither of whom have fought in years, both said they\u2019d return just to be on the White House card. (Neither was given a spot.) Sean O\u2019Malley, who will fight Sunday, recently said on social media <\/a>that he told the UFC he\u2019d fight anybody, as long as it was at the White House.<\/p>\n

The UFC has held fight cards in most of the world\u2019s biggest indoor arenas, including Madison Square Garden and the Sphere in Las Vegas. But the card many of the UFC\u2019s fighters have wanted most is the one with the worst conditions, the smallest crowd and mountains of logistical nightmares. Getting to fight in the backyard of arguably the western world\u2019s most important building, it turns out, outweighs any wrench the night\u2019s unorthodox setup might throw their way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get to walk from the Oval Office to the White House lawn!\u201d O\u2019Malley said with wonder, describing the path each fighter will take to the octagon on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

Many of the best mixed martial arts fighters come from small towns or little money. Last fall, when the White House card was still largely a fascination of President Donald Trump\u2019s, Ed Soares, a manager for Alex Pereira, one of the UFC\u2019s top fighters, stood watching Pereira practice and whispered to a visitor, \u201cThe fight we want is the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Alex Pereira at the Lincoln Memorial on Friday. (Allison Robbert\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Soares went on to explain that Pereira had grown up with little money in a rough part of S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil, quitting school as a teenager to work in a tire store. Who could have seen a kid in a Brazilian tire store some day fighting on the White House lawn?<\/p>

Read more Pirro\u2019s tough-on-crime approach is undercut by acquittals and mistrials<\/a><\/p>\n

But there was something else, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe White House event is going to be big,\u201d Soares said that day.<\/p>\n

Pereira is Sunday night\u2019s co-headliner, fighting for the first time as a heavyweight, trying to become the first UFC fighter to win titles in three weight classes.<\/p>\n

Despite the small arena of only about 4,300 seats on the White House lawn, the UFC and its fighters believe the television audience on Paramount+ will be bigger than for any of the organization\u2019s previous pay-per-view shows. They imagine a public fascinated by the idea of MMA fighting at the White House, and they know Trump\u2019s presence will draw attention good and bad. They want to be a part of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s take my American patriotism out of it, let\u2019s take my love for the country out of it,\u201d lightweight Michael Chandler, who will fight Sunday, said this week. \u201cWhen you get into the sport, mixed martial arts, when you get into any sport, you want the biggest platforms possible, the most amount of viewers, the most amount of eyeballs, the highest stakes, the brightest lights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chandler comes from a town of around 4,000 people south of St. Louis and had to walk on to the wrestling team at the University of Missouri.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the top of my professional career,\u201d he said, \u201cfighting on the White House, or by the White House lawn for America\u2019s 250th birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Trump typically finds a receptive crowd at UFC events, he\u2019s not the reason most fighters cite for their enthusiasm for Sunday\u2019s card. Some have said they are intrigued by the idea of the president watching them fight, and at least one of the 14 fighting on Sunday, middleweight Bo Nickal, has built a friendship with Trump. But most said they are more attracted by the awe of being at the White House and a huge television audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a testament to what the UFC has become,\u201d said Daniel Cormier, a former UFC champion and now one of the organization\u2019s television commentators. \u201cYou got to remember this is a sport that back in the mid \u201990s they didn\u2019t know if they would ever get on pay-per-view. They were in Biloxi, Mississippi, fighting in front of 2,000 people. [Now] they\u2019re setting up an octagon on the South Lawn at the White House.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Sports betting was once widely outlawed. Now it\u2019s promoted at the White House.<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UFC has packed many of the biggest arenas, but the card competitors wanted to be on most was the one with the worst conditions, the smallest crowd and huge logistical nightmares.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nTo UFC fighters, the White House\u2019s small, swampy octagon is the perfect venue - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3690\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"To UFC fighters, the White House\u2019s small, swampy octagon is the perfect venue - 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