Dana White reveals what could ruin the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House: “Hopefully none of that shit happens”

While the start of a new, expanded World Cup will be dominating sports headlines over the next few days, Sunday’s UFC event in Washington DC is also set to get attention.

US President Donald Trump is reviving the ancient “gladiator” concept for what’s being billed as the most unconventional event in the history of mixed martial arts. The UFC announced the full lineup for UFC Freedom 250, scheduled for June 14, live from the presidential residence of the United States — a setting unlike anything the sport has ever seen.

Ilia Topuria, the undefeated lightweight champion, will headline the event. He’ll defend his belt against Justin Gaethje, the American interim champion at 155 pounds, in a matchup that promises pure violence and high‑stakes drama. UFC Freedom 250 is shaping up to be a night that rewrites the rulebook.

But the night could quite easily slip into chaos, as UFC CEO Dana White readily admits. The event is not being held in a closed arena but out in the open air - two weeks into the Atlantic hurricane season. There are two good reasons why it could be a recipe for disaster.

An electric storm would half UFC Freedom 2050

“Success will be this: obviously, the thing is pulled off, as far as production goes, with close to no hitches. We have to worry about the weather - how cold is it? Is it too hot, is it too muggy... does it rain?” he told Rich Kleiman on Boardroom Talks last month. “The only thing that can really crush us is lightning. Everybody who all have kids that have played soccer or whatever - as soon as lightning hits, it’s a rap. Everybody’s gotta go and hide. So if lightning happens that night, we’ll wait out the lightning until it goes away, and we’ll do the show a little bit later or however that plays out. Hopefully none of that shit happens”.

Flying critters

Electrical storms causing delays is not the only concern - insects drawn to the bright stage lights is something which the CEO is aware of. “The other problem, that I always think about, especially on the east coast - bugs‚” White added. “So President Trump just opened the Rose Garden two night ago, and invited me to dinner there. The amount of gnats that were flying around... I’m like, ‘Holy shit! As soon as a I got on the plane, I called my head of production and said, ‘Yeah, let me tell you about the gnat situation tonight...’ So when you’re a fighter, think about that lighting grid, the claw we are gonna have - the amount of power in the lights, moths, gnats, and God knows what else, fighters tryin’ to deal with that so, I was telling Craig, my head of production, ‘Maybe we put fans in…’ These are all the little details that we have to think about. That’s why I don’t like fighting outside”.

Organizers will be taking a close look at the weather forecast for Sunday - the outlook is for showers, with a 50 percent chance of rain in the evening.

UFC Freedom 250 gets underway at 8 p.m. EDT on Sunday June 14, and will be aired live from the White House aired live on Paramount+.

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