President Donald Trump’s birthday plan to turn the White House South Lawn into an Ultimate Fighting Championship cage match now includes erecting an arena on the historic property—and holding the weigh-ins at the Lincoln Memorial.
Trump, a longtime fan of the UFC and its CEO, Dana White, had already been planning an extravagant, tacky event to celebrate turning 80, before confirming Monday that an arena is officially in the works.
“They’re building an arena, the great Dana White is building an arena,” Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center Honors Monday night.
Trump also claimed that White, who publicly supported Trump in the 2024 presidential election, is holding back on organizing some fights at the moment to save them for the South Lawn.
“The biggest fights they’ve ever had,’’ Trump said. “Every one’s a championship fight. And every one’s a legendary type of fight.”
White, for his part, has said the event will be “the greatest fight card ever assembled in the history of, at least, definitely this company.”
The event has been largely scaled back from Trump’s original proposal of 20,000 spectators. Trump said Monday that the arena will have the capacity for about 5,000 seats.
The president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, who holds a blue belt in jiu-jitsu, will assist White with the planning, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
Other plans for the match include weigh-ins on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, a laser and firework show, and a jumbo screen for viewers on the Ellipse. The National Mall will also host autograph-signing sessions and “punching bags for tourists to test their skills.” Fighters involved in the matches may even warm up at the White House, the Journal reported.
The White House previously released AI-generated images of the over-the-top spectacle.
SEE YOU ON THE SOUTH LAWN @UFC pic.twitter.com/02HoAdxc9e
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 20, 2025
The event was originally intended to coincide with America’s 250th Birthday celebration on July 4th, but the date was moved due to too many events happening in Washington that week, according to the Journal. The event is now scheduled for June 14, which happens to be Trump’s 80th birthday, although Trump claimed the date is merely a coincidence.
“I don’t think there’ll be anything like it,” he said. “It’ll be on Sunday night, June 14, [on] Flag Day. It happens to be my birthday, but I didn’t do it for that reason. ‘Sir, we like the June 14 date.’ I said, ‘Yeah, that’s my birthday.’ They didn’t know it. But they picked it. I’ll take a little heat on that, but it’s not that.”
Retired Irish fighter and MAGA supporter Conor McGregor, who was found liable for sexual assault last year, is the only participant who has publicly said they have secured a spot to fight on the South Lawn next year.
Jon Jones, considered by some to be the greatest UFC fighter of all time, has also been lobbying to be involved. White, however, appeared to have shot down his participation, saying in August there was a “a billion to one” chance Jones would be involved, pointing to trust issues in their relationship.
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