President touts event in Fox News interview ahead of June 14 bout

President Donald Trump hosts UFC fighters competing in the White House event in the Oval Office. From left, Alex Pereira, Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje stand respectfully behind him. [Getty Images]
President Donald Trump hosts UFC fighters competing in the White House event in the Oval Office. From left, Alex Pereira, Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje stand respectfully behind him. [Getty Images]

President Donald Trump, a well-known sports enthusiast, has made a bold prediction: the UFC event at the White House will draw the highest television ratings in sports history.

UFC Freedom 250 is scheduled for June 14 at a specially constructed cage on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington — an unprecedented hosting of a sporting event at the presidential residence.

In a recent Fox News interview ahead of the event, Trump said the fight card would be unlike anything fans would ever see again. "This event will set the all-time record for ratings in the history of sports," he said. "It may be one of the highest-rated events ever."

Trump added that he planned to bring together the best fighters in the world for the night. "They all say they want to fight at the White House," he said. "Dana [White, the UFC president] is a great guy and he's done something truly incredible."

True to form, Trump devoted time to promoting the event. UFC is staging it without government funding, but Trump — who proposed and helped bring the event to fruition — stands to benefit from its success.

About 5,000 VIP guests will be seated on the South Lawn, while members of the public will be able to watch for free on large screens at the nearby Ellipse park.

"We're putting up eight giant screens across the street in the park, and probably about 100,000 people will be able to watch for free," Trump said.

The main event of UFC Freedom 250 is a lightweight title unification bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje, with a heavyweight interim title fight between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane as the co-main event. The card will stream exclusively on Paramount+ in North America.


yjc@heraldcorp.com