Trump Administration, Responding to Lawsuit, Says Delaying White House UFC Event Could ‘Jeopardize’ Fighters’ Health

The Trump Department of Justice responded to a recent lawsuit that is demanding a federal judge stop an upcoming UFC fighting event from taking place on the White House lawn, arguing the plaintiffs want to “spoil the event” for everyone else and warning a delay could “jeopardize the health” of the 14 mixed martial artists involved in the event. The memorandum, filed late Tuesday night, was in response to a lawsuit filed by a watchdog group, the Public Integrity Project, on behalf of two plaintiffs — activist Susan Douglas and Vietnam War veteran and rideshare driver Paul Romano — who argued Mr. Trump’s “deeply corrupt” UFC Freedom 250 is a poorly disguised for-profit sports event that gives UFC chief executive officer Dana White “unfettered access to the White House.” The event, which the Trump administration says is intended to celebrate America’s Semiquincentennial and will fall on the same weekend as President Trump’s 80th birthday, had been in the planning stages for nearly a year, with organizers having already erected a temporary metal structure, known as “the Claw,” on the South Lawn. Justice Department attorneys argued the two plaintiffs “sat on their hands,” waiting to file their lawsuit until just days before the event — which they expect to draw more than 4,000 spectators to the South Lawn and more than 120,000 to watch from the nearby Ellipse— was set to start.Fourteen UFC fighters are scheduled to fight this weekend, including a highly anticipated title bout between UFC Lightweight Champion Ilia Topuria and Interim Champion Justin Gaethje. The Justice Department said those fighters had trained for months in advance for the event and in the final week before the scheduled fight, “UFC fighters generally cut between 4.5% and 6.6% of their body fat, at times as much as 20 pounds in the week leading up to the weigh-in.” In the week leading up to a bout, Justice Department attorneys said “weight-cutting” fighters use a combination of fasting, “extreme use of saunas, and hot Epsom salt baths” to help them shed pounds. A UFC press conference is scheduled to take place at the Lincoln Memorial on Friday, which Ms. Douglas and Mr. Romano argue in their lawsuit is too “solemn” and “moving” a monument to be the site of a “raucous, profane, and sometimes violent” face-offs.“For instance, just a few weeks ago, at the UFC 328 weigh in, Sean Strickland called his opponent Khamzat Chimaev a ‘son of a whore’ and a ‘bitch,’” their attorneys write in their lawsuit.A weigh-in is set to take place at the Ellipse on June 13, followed by a concert featuring the Zac Brown Band. Justice Department attorneys argued that a delay could “jeopardize the health of the 14 professional athletes involved in the event, as prolonged weight cutting can result in heat injuries, urinary and kidney problems including kidney failure, seizures, and hypovolemic shock.” The Justice Department also argued that the UFC Freedom 250 is not the first sports event to be hosted on the South Lawn. They pointed to President Andrew Johnson’s “professional baseball games on what is now the Ellipse” in 1865 and President George W. Bush’s annual tee-ball game, in which White House workers replicated a “major-league ball-park — complete with pitcher’s mound, dug-out, and bleachers.”In 2023, former First Lady Jill Biden officially opened the White House Holiday Ice Rink on the South Lawn, an event that was supported by both the National Hockey League and Comcast. President Jimmy Carter also had an ice rink built on the South Lawn in 1980.The Trump White House has promoted the upcoming event on social media, dubbing it “the biggest fight in UFC history.”

Trump Administration, Responding to Lawsuit, Says Delaying White House UFC Event Could ‘Jeopardize’ Fighters’ Health

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