Dana White says the UFC is making an exception to its usual strict rule for the White House event.
Dana White has announced that UFC will make an exception to one of its own rules for the exciting White House event in June. The UFC Freedom 250 is set for June 14, which also happens to be President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday.
The event will take place on the South Lawn of the White House, with military members receiving special tickets. There will be seven amazing fights, including Ilia Topuria defending his lightweight title against Justin Gaethje as the main event. Another big match features Alex Pereira facing Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title.
President Trump even got his wish to see Derrick Lewis fight, as he pushed for Lewis to be on the card. Right after UFC 327, Lewis was matched up with Josh Hokit to make it happen. This show will be a one-of-a-kind UFC event, and Dana White has admitted they will break their usual rule by having the national anthem sung.
Although singing the anthem is common in boxing and many American sports, White had avoided it because UFC is a global company representing fighters from all over the world. But for UFC Freedom 250, “The Star-Spangled Banner” will be performed — something that hasn’t happened in UFC for many years.
White explained, “We don’t usually do the National Anthem. It drives me crazy in boxing when they sing two anthems before a fight. UFC has fighters from every country, and millions watch worldwide, so it’s not usually done. This will be the first time in a long time, since the early UFC days, that we sing the anthem.”
There’s another cool change for UFC Freedom 250: the bonus system. While the usual Fight of the Night and Performance bonuses will still be given after the show, there will also be an extra $1 million in bonuses sponsored by Crypto.com. This is the biggest bonus pool in UFC history, shared by all 14 fighters on the card, adding even more excitement to the night!