NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
President Donald Trump confirmed in a sit-down interview with boxer Jake Paul this week that he will attend the historic UFC event in Washington, D.C., scheduled for the president’s 80th birthday as part of the America 250 celebration.
Trump, a longtime supporter of the UFC, spoke about the highly anticipated event scheduled to take place on the South Lawn of the White House on June 14 that will feature two championship bouts.
President-elect Donald Trump looks on during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York, on Nov. 16, 2024. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
“I will,” Trump responded when asked by Paul if he will be at the event, which has been dubbed UFC Freedom 250. “It’s going to be amazing at the White House. And Dana [White] is a great guy. He’s a good fan of yours, you know. Dana is a good guy. The best. I mean, there’s nobody like him.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Trump also spoke about the card, which was released days earlier and includes Ilia Topuria going up against Justin Gaethje for the UFC World Lightweight Championship and Alex Pereira taking on Ciryl Gane for the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship.
“[White] had the idea of staging it right at the front door of the White House. We’ll be right in the front door of the White House. And he’s got a tremendous card. I don’t even know if it’s filled out, but I just saw it and it looks like it’s going to be all top guys. They all want to fight at the White House. So it’s going to be in honor of the 250th year. It’ll be great.”
People hold a flag as President Donald Trump arrives at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The card also includes Sean O’Malley taking on Aiemann Zahabi, Michael Chandler squaring off against Mauricio Ruffy, Kyle Daukaus battling against Bo Nickal and Steve Garcia going up against Diego Lopes.
DANA WHITE DISMISSES NOTION WHITE HOUSE UFC EVENT WILL BE ‘TOO POLITICAL’: ‘IT’S A HISTORY-MAKING EVENT’
White said Thursday that the UFC is planning to offer 85,000 free tickets for the outdoor viewing area at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. Tickets for the South Lawn will not be sold, but instead will be comped to members of the military, ESPN reported.
Despite the location and presence of Trump, White has dismissed the notion that the event will be “too political.”
“I mean, I don’t know how it would be too political other than it’s at the White House,” he said in January during an interview with Bloomberg. “Listen, if you look back throughout history, I think [former President] George Bush was a big baseball fan, [former President Barack] Obama was an NBA fan and Trump is a UFC fan. I don’t think that any of those guys being fans made any sport too political.”
UFC president Dana White and former United States president Donald Trump attend the UFC 296 event at T-Mobile Arena on Dec. 16, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The UFC event is just one of the many events Trump has planned for the celebration of America’s 250th birthday. Last month, it was announced that an IndyCar race will take place in August and will be free for fans to come and watch.
Fox News Digital’s Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.