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UFC CEO Dana White Insists Production Awards Should Be Swept by UFC’s White House Event
As UFC Freedom 250 approaches this Sunday, anticipation among fans is reaching a fever pitch. The event promises to be the largest production in UFC history, featuring 14 top fighters representing their countries on one of the sport’s grandest stages yet.
One of the biggest topics surrounding the event has been its unprecedented production scale. Construction began late last month on the South Lawn of the White House to prepare for the June 14 showdown. Massive structures have been erected, including a colossal metal dome dubbed “The Claw” – imported from Europe specifically for this occasion – and an 87-foot canopy designed to illuminate the Octagon.
The setup also includes a temporary arena with a 4,300-seat capacity, primarily reserved for military personnel, along with space for up to 85,000 spectators to watch on giant screens in the Ellipse, a sprawling 52-acre park just south of the White House fence.
Despite some controversy surrounding the event, there’s no denying the extraordinary effort poured into making it happen. Dana White is so confident in the production’s quality that he declared in a recent interview with TNT Fight Sports that if the UFC doesn’t sweep every production award for the White House event, then the awards themselves should be scrapped.
“I said the Sphere should have won every award there is in production, it did not, which doesn’t surprise me – it’s very political,” White said. “If we don’t win every production award for the White House fight, they should just stop doing production awards because you’re full of s—.”
Adding to the spectacle, White revealed that the main event fighters, Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje, will make their entrance directly from the Oval Office – a first in combat sports history.
“The main event guys will come from the Oval Office. They’ll walk from the Oval Office,” White explained. “The walkouts and everything for this fight are incredible, and are one of one.”
The event’s scale comes with a hefty price tag. White previously confirmed that the UFC expects to lose around $30 million on the White House event, which is estimated to cost over $60 million in total. Even restoring the South Lawn’s grass, which has been “flattened” to accommodate the setup, could cost between $700,000 and $1 million.
TKO president Mark Shapiro acknowledged that the event is unlikely to turn a profit but emphasized its marketing value. “This is the greatest earned marketing tool of all time,” Shapiro told Time Magazine.
“It’s a once-in-a-generation moment. The kind of attention, awareness, and sampling we’re going to get from audiences around the world, on that day alone, will be more than we could get in an entire year.”
With such high stakes, both financially and culturally, UFC Freedom 250 is poised to be a landmark event in the history of the sport.