Workers have spent recent weeks constructing the UFC arena on the White House South Lawn ahead of the Freedom 250 fight card on 14 June. Photograph: Rahmat Gul/AP
View image in fullscreen: Workers have spent recent weeks constructing the UFC arena on the White House South Lawn ahead of the Freedom 250 fight card on 14 June. Photograph: Rahmat Gul/AP
President Likens South Lawn Setup to Eiffel Tower
Donald Trump has floated the idea of permanently keeping the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) arena that is being constructed on the White House South Lawn for a series of fights this month.
In a video posted on his official TikTok account on Tuesday, the US president likened the structure to the Eiffel Tower.
“People don’t know that in Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower, 1889 it was built. It was supposed to be taken down immediately after the world’s fair, and then they said, ‘You know we sort of like it, let’s leave it up a little bit longer’, and then they said, ‘Let’s leave it up longer and longer and longer,” he said in the video, which was recorded in the Oval Office.
“Well, they never took it down, and you know we’re building something in front of the White House that’s quite attractive to a lot of people. It’s going to have the big UFC fight on June 14, and I’m looking at it and maybe we’ll never ever take it down.”
Workers have spent recent weeks assembling the octagonal ring that will stage a slate of seven fights on 14 June to mark Trump’s 80th birthday and the 250th anniversary of US independence. The 90ft, “Claw”-like steel arches have dozens of cameras attached and feature overlaying patterns of the American flag.
The UFC is covering the cost of construction of the setup. Mark Shapiro, president of TKO Group Holdings, UFC’s parent company, has said that the production of the card – including construction, fighter pay and fan events – is likely to cost at least $60m and that the event will not turn a profit. Chief executive Dana White added that UFC will spend an estimated $700,000 to restore the grass on the South Lawn after the event.
Trump told reporters last month that the arena will be able to hold 4,500 spectators for the event – most of them military members with no public tickets available. An additional 75,000 to 100,000 people able to watch on screens from the Ellipsis near the White House.
The Freedom 250 card will feature two title fights: Ilia Topuria v Justin Gaethje for the lightweight belt and Alex Pereira v Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight title.
The Eiffel Tower was constructed for the 1889 world’s fair and was only intended to remain standing for 20 years before its architect, Gustave Eiffel, advocated to keep the structure as a monument to the city of Paris.
The UFC arena is the latest construction project Trump has undertaken to remodel the White House. Since his reelection, he has added a host of gold details to the Oval Office, paved over a patch of the Rose Garden and razed the East Wing to build a ballroom.
