What You Didnt See On TV: Inside the UFC Thunderdome on the White House Lawn

Sunday night on the South Lawn of the White House saw two very distinct types of action: Combat happening inside the cage, and corporate politicking happening outside of it.

Inside the UFC octagon, mixed martial artists jabbed and kicked each other, resulting in spectacular knockouts from the likes of Sean O’Malley and Justin Gaethje.

Just outside the cage, however, President Trump held post, where a stream of tech titans, media moguls and other power-players sought a few minutes of his time (and perhaps to wish him a happy 80th birthday). The Hollywood Reporter was in attendance for the proceedings, a highbrow-lowbrow merger of capitalism, politics and U.S. government assets unlike anything ever seen before.

The event was UFC Freedom 250, a $60 million made-for-TV spectacle sparked by a suggestion from Trump, and executed by his friend, the UFC CEO Dana White. White and Trump sat cage-side, directly next to WME executive chairman and TKO CEO Ari Emanuel, who Trump immediately greeted when he took his seat at the start of the night.

Emanuel and White served as VIP shepherds at times, bringing dignitaries over to talk to Trump when the action was quiet in the octagon, and commercials were rolling for viewers on TV.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was one of those THR spotted huddling with Trump and White. Twenty-four hours after The New York Knicks won the NBA Championship, Knicks owner (and Sphere mogul) Jim Dolan was there too, with Trump seen introducing him to other well-wishes by his seat. Joe Rogan, the uber-popular podcaster and UFC commentator used a commercial break to walk around the cage and chat with Trump.

Nearby, Paramount CEO David Ellison was seen smiling with a front-row view, where he was joined by Paramount streaming chief Cindy Holland. Ellison had reason to be happy: Days earlier Trump’s Department of Justice officially cleared his $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, and Paramount+ had the exclusive rights to the UFC White House event, in what executives at both companies were betting would be a blockbuster for viewership and new subscribers.

TKO president and COO Mark Shapiro was there, and comedians Shane Gillis and Tony Hinchcliffe were spotted in the crowd, as were sports stars like soccer legend Zlatan Ibrahimović, boxer Terence Crawford and WWE stars Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Roman Reigns. Essentially the entire White House cabinet was there, with the likes of Scott Bessent, Marco Rubio, Markwayne Mullin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Sean Duffy and others all walking past the assembled press corp huddled by the James Brady Press Briefing Room in the hours before the event began.

The massive “claw” assembled on the South Lawn served as the stage and seating for a few thousand attendees, with “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band playing live music all night.

There were two military flyovers: A Group of fighter jets to kick off the event, and a B-2 stealth bomber partway through the evening. Fireworks shows above the Washington Monument punctuated critical moments like the introduction for the final match of the evening, and after the event ended at 1:18 a.m.

Fighters walked to the octagon from various rooms in the White House (including the Oval Office) onto the Truman Balcony, making for a dramatic entrances. The audience, comprised of raucous active duty military members in service uniforms and invited guests of Trump, the UFC and TKO, were largely dressed to impress with suits, giving a formal vibe to the affair.

But there were also perplexing moments that punctured the gravitas of the event (even for an event built around hand-to-hand combat). A post-match interview with fighter Josh Hokit ended with him declaring “Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?” to a mixture of groans and laughter from the crowd. THR was unable to see Trump’s reaction to the comment.

And after the first fight, a Bud Light commercial played on the screens, a moment of commercialism that no one would think twice about at Madison Square Garden but was jarring inside the White House grounds. UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer also called out sponsors before big matches, like Crypto.com and Ram Trucks (“nothing stops Ram!,” Buffer declared at one point).

In fact the entire night was a collision course of popular culture, politics and sports entertainment. During the breaks between matches, videos (including some that appeared to be possibly made with the help of AI) telling the history of America blasted through the makeshift arena, including one video narrated by Paramount’s own Cole Hauser, the star of Dutton Ranch. The Marine Band played “He’s a Pirate,” the theme song from the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise, before the introductions to every bout.

And yet, there was a very real chance that the night wouldn’t happen at all. Severe thunderstorms were in the forecast, threatening to delay or otherwise disrupt the event.

The assembled press pool, comprised of White House pool reporters and journalists credentialed by the UFC, spent much of the afternoon holed up in the Brady Briefing Room, with the call time for the arena coming and going. The vending machines in the press kitchen were emptied, and some “All American” cheeseburgers, hot dogs and tater-tots provided by the UFC went quickly.

Most of the cabinet were seen walking by toward the Palm Room, either from the West Wing or from the entrance to the White House complex, as was Vice President JD Vance, who was seen briskly walking toward the Oval Office shortly before Trump announced that a deal was signed with Iran to end hostilities.

When it became clear that the severe weather was going to miss D.C., the press were rushed to the Palm Room, past the West Wing Colonnade outside the Oval Office, and into the arena, where a chaotic scene was taking place as the thousands of guests rushed to find their seats once the event was a go.

As the guests streamed into the makeshift venue, the United States Marine Band played AC/DC’s classic “Thunderstruck.” But there wasn’t any thunder in the sky all night.