President Donald Trump’s birthday UFC fight night on the White House lawn will make use of a custom-built outdoor arena called “The Claw.” UFC President Dana White fears it could be the event’s undoing.
White, 56, who is putting on the made-for-TV event at Trump’s suggestion, issued a grave warning about the UFC Freedom 250’s ongoing issues.
“The three big problems, as far as I am seeing right now, are rain, lightning, and a ton of bugs,” White told The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday, adding that he’s concerned about “clusters” of gnats.
“So imagine this massive, powerful claw, and the lights that are going to come with it; you’re going to have gnats, moths, maybe bats,” he continued. “I don’t know what the hell’s going to show up, but you know these are all the things that you have to think of leading up to this thing.”
White first sounded the alarm about D.C.’s bug infestation after visiting the White House Rose Garden last month.
“President Trump just opened the Rose Garden two nights ago, and he invited me to dinner there. The amount of gnats that were flying around. I’m like, ‘Holy s--t,’” White said on the Boardroom podcast in May, recalling calling the UFC’s head of production that night to discuss the problem.
On Thursday, White admitted that the UFC was overlooking the obvious outdoor obstacles for the sake of TV spectacle.
“All I want to see during this fight is the White House, the full White House,” White said, acknowledging why the arena could not be enclosed.
“I don’t want to see a light, a microphone, any type of rigging, and if the fight goes the other way,” he said, adding, “I want to see the [Washington Monument], that’s it. Those are the only things I want to see.”
“The whole idea of putting that structure in place was to create the biggest window possible and frame the White House in the background in all our wide shots throughout the night,” UFC chief content officer Craig Borsari added.
UFC commentator-turned-podcaster Joe Rogan condemned the event for deprioritizing fighters in favor of the camera’s view.
“The White House thing is odd. I don’t like it,” Rogan, 58, confessed in May. “I don’t like the idea of fighting outside at all.”
While discussing the event with 24-year UFC referee “Big” John McCarthy, Rogan was in disbelief over the numerous problems outdoor fights pose to fighters.
“How are they f---ing going to do anything about the bugs?... They were talking about maybe using fans,” Rogan said. “Like, how are you going to stop the bugs? Pesticide the s--t out of it?”
“That’s good, pesticides. That’s good for the fighters. That’ll help with their breathing,” McCarthy, 63, said, shaking his head.
“I just don’t think that you should compete in a world championship fight in a non-controlled environment,” Rogan declared. “Build a f---ing roof! Like you’ve got all the money in the world, right? You want to do this for f---ing America?”
Trump, 79, for his part, seems entirely unfazed by the event’s potential unravelings.
During a May 6 press conference with the night’s fighters in the Oval Office, the president turned to the cameras and simply said, “This will be the greatest show on Earth.”
