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Dana White reiterated on Logan Paul’s podcast that the UFC event at the White House is “happening.”
The event will be part of commemorating the United States’ 250th birthday, and White said it was actually President Donald Trump’s idea.
“I didn’t ask — he brought it up to me,” White said on “Impaulsive.”
“When you walk around the White House with him, he’s so proud of the White House, and he loves it so much and he loves America. He believes that the White House belongs to the people of America,” White continued. “He wants to do more things like kids coming in doing Easter egg hunts, things around Christmas and special events. … That’s his thing. He wants to bring more Americans to the White House. His thing was, ‘This is your house.’ I was lucky he said, ‘We should do a fight here.’”
Many specific details of the event remain to be determined, but one major logistical hurdle has already been cleared, White said.
“The fighters are gonna walk out of the Oval Office,” White revealed, confirming a rumor.
The event is going to be a tough ticket with less than 5,000 people will be attendance. However, it “isn’t about the gate,” White said.
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“I’ll do this with no crowd. To be on the White House lawn with the backdrop being the White House, I don’t care. This isn’t about the crowd for me. It’s about being at the White House. … We’re gonna be on the f—ing South Lawn of the White House,” White said.
“This is a one-in-one, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will never happen again.”
White and Trump have built a friendship over the years. Trump has attended numerous UFC fights, and White spoke at the Republican National Convention when Trump first ran for president nearly a decade ago. White also said Trump has been in his corner (no pun intended) since UFC’s early days.
“The best thing about being friends with him is that he’s a great guy. … Think about when we started the UFC, and he had us come to the Taj Mahal (Trump’s former Atlantic City casino). The Trump brand was [up here], UFC was [down here.] It’s hard for people to wrap their heads around how this brand was looked at back then. Venues didn’t want us. Sponsors, television was terrified of us. Pay-per-view wouldn’t even put us on. Sanctioning organizations, athletic commissions didn’t want anything to do with us. So, the way he supported us in the beginning was great. And anything that happened to me in my career, he would be the first guy to reach out.”
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that weigh-ins will take place at the Lincoln Memorial. Initially, it was reported that the event would be held on July 4, but logistical issues with that date have pushed it to June, according to the report.
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