Temporary fighting arena was set up in the White House garden AFP via Getty Images The President of the United States, Donald Trump, will watch this Sunday (14) a sequence of mixed martial arts fights (known by its acronym in English as MMA) in an arena built in the middle of the White House. According to the Republican, the spectacle will be "the greatest show on Earth". MMA was banned in most American states 30 years ago, but with those restrictions long since lifted, the combat sport will be on full display in a sign of its growing popularity and political influence. Held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), today one of the largest MMA organizations in the world, the event will feature 14 fighters, who will face each other in the gardens of the presidential residence. Now on g1 Among them is Brazilian Alex "Poatan" Pereira, who faces Frenchman Ciryl Gane in the fight for the interim heavyweight belt. donald trump Bloomberg via Getty Images The show was called UFC Freedom 250 and aims to celebrate the country's 250th anniversary, celebrating the "American fighting spirit". Critics have questioned whether the event, which coincides with Trump's 80th birthday, is a suitable celebration of US independence. An opposition group even filed a lawsuit alleging that it was an "improper and flagrant use of our sacred national monuments." The magnitude of the preparation is proportional to the controversy. The arena's 28-meter-high steel structure completely altered the landscape of the White House's South Lawn. It was designed to accommodate around 4,000 spectators, while another 85,000 people are expected to watch on giant screens at the Ellipse, a park located nearby. The image of fighters exchanging blows beneath the windows of the Oval Office is not just an isolated event — it is the culmination of a quarter-century-old alliance. To understand how this sport reached the main political space in the United States, it is necessary to go back to a period when both the UFC and Donald Trump were in completely different situations. The arena set up in the White House garden for the UFC fight this Sunday (14) Getty Images The driving force behind the event is the 25-year friendship between Trump and UFC President Dana White. When White and his partners bought the struggling organization for US$2 million (R$10.1 million) in 2001, the sport was facing strong political backlash. Just five years earlier, Republican Senator John McCain had declared MMA to be "human cockfighting," leading to a ban on fighting in 36 states. "Nowhere wanted [the UFC]," White told CBS, the BBC's U.S. partner, in 2025. "They didn't believe in it. They didn't like it and they were worried about the type of crowd that would show up for this type of event." Excluded from traditional arenas, White credits Trump with saving the organization by hosting two UFC events at the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City in 2001. With the introduction of strict regulations and rules, as well as the use of protective gloves, the sport has finally freed itself from its illegal status. The company was sold for US$4 billion (R$20.2 billion) in 2016 and valued at US$12 billion (R$60.7 billion) in 2023, making this weekend's event on the arena's south lawn a personal celebration for both. Brazilian Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane face each other before the fight that will take place on the White House lawn Getty Images The event at the White House is a calculated strategy to reach a crucial profile of voters. The vast majority of UFC fans are men under 30 — a group that strongly supported Trump in the last election, although recent polls suggest his approval among them has declined. Katie Zacharia, a former Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman and conservative commentator, told the BBC that the event could attract young men and convey a message of "positive masculinity" in response to what she called the "fragility introduced by the far left." She also dismissed criticism directed at the event, stating that the UFC's principles "are the kind of principles that founded our Constitutional Republic." "It's about not giving up the fight until the end," she said. "I think there's no better summary of the American spirit than a good UFC fight." Two critics of the event — a Virginia-based Vietnam War veteran and a local civic activist — tried to stop it with a last-minute lawsuit, but a judge ruled it could go ahead. The lawsuit, filed by anti-corruption law firm Public Integrity Project, alleged that the event was "deeply corrupt," citing Trump's financial interests in TKO, the UFC's parent company, and his close ties to White. "This is a case of corruption," Brendan Ballou, founder of the Public Integrity Project, said in a statement to the BBC, citing the sale of sponsorship packages, broadcast rights and advertisements at the White House and the Lincoln Memorial. "The fundamental question we need to ask as a country is whether we want to use our most sacred national monuments to enrich the president and his allies. We believe the answer to that question is self-evident." It is known that Trump has financial ties to the UFC, with public records showing that he purchased between US$15,000 and US$50,000 (between R$60,700 and R$253,000) in TKO shares in March this year. But the White House rejected any possibility of wrongdoing, pointing out that Trump's assets are in a trust fund managed by his children and stressing that there would be no "conflicts of interest." UFC lightweight fighters Mauricio Ruffy and Michael Chandler face each other during the weigh-in Getty Images • Cost: The UFC claims to be investing US$60 million (R$303.7 million) to hold the event — including US$700,000 (R$3.5 million) to restore the grass on the south lawn — and does not expect to make a profit. • Guest list: The audience at the arena is expected to be made up of government officials, military personnel and special guests. Audiences who signed up for free tickets will be placed in the area reserved for fans, a space known as the Ellipse, located in a nearby park. • Security: Local authorities must spend between US$10 million and US$12 million (R$50.6 million to R$60.7 million) in federal funds on security and road closures. • How to watch: The event starts on Sunday night, at 8pm (Brasília time). It will be broadcast exclusively on Paramount+ in the US, a service run by Trump ally David Ellison. In Brazil, the broadcast will be on Paramount+ (pay-per-view) from 9pm (Brasília time). • The fights: The 14 fighters will be the first athletes to compete professionally on the White House grounds. The group, made up exclusively of male fighters, will have as its main fight Ilia Topuria defending her lightweight title against Justin Gaethje. UFC President Dana White with Donald Trump Getty Images It's not uncommon for presidents to host large events on the South Lawn of the White House, from country fairs to jazz festivals, in addition to the annual Independence Day celebrations and traditional Easter egg hunts — but the scale and content of Sunday night's event is quite different. "I think we can use the word 'unprecedented' here," Edward Lengel, former chief historian at the White House Historical Association, told the BBC. "There were many different episodes of entertainment at the White House, but they were usually musical or performance-based. There really had never been anything like this before."