The UFC is pressing ahead with plans to stage its event on the White House South Lawn this Sunday, despite concerns over weather conditions and the challenges associated with hosting an outdoor fight card.
The event, backed by Donald Trump, marks the first UFC card to be held at the White House and a rare outdoor event for the organisation. Construction is nearing completion, with UFC Chief Content Officer Craig Borsari providing details on preparations for potential weather-related disruptions during Wednesday’s media day.
“We are now at a period of time where weather can get fairly predictable,” said Borsari, according to remarks made to reporters during this week’s media day. “When you’re 7-10 days out, you get a general sense of what’s ahead of you. Now, starting with Friday, we have a pretty good idea of what we might be facing. So I’m not checking weather apps, I’m getting reports from our meteorologist, who’s on site, and now he’s at a point where he’s giving us hourly updates of what the weather looks like.”
Borsari said the UFC has implemented measures to address concerns about heat and direct sunlight on the Octagon canvas. “We have a custom cover for the canvas, so that’s going to protect us from any increased heat,” said Borsari, according to the media-day comments. “Part of the reason why we picked an 8 p.m. start time was so that we could get some of the intense direct sunlight off of the canvas, so we feel confident that the heat of the canvas, we have plans to mitigate that.”
The UFC executive also addressed the possibility of rain during the event. “If we have light to moderate rain with no lightning, we’re going to try to push forward,” said Borsari. He added that the venue’s overhead canopy would provide some protection, although spectators in certain seating areas could still be exposed to the weather.
Organisers expect Trump, senior officials and invited guests to attend on the South Lawn, while more than 80,000 fans are expected at a viewing party in the nearby Ellipse park. Borsari said the UFC has developed contingency plans should severe weather interrupt the broadcast. “One is to stay on air and we do have contingency planning where we can remain and continue to broadcast from a location close by the South Lawn, and if we feel like a weather pattern’s coming in that will pass through and we can resume, we will,” said Borsari.
Despite the logistical challenges associated with staging an outdoor event, Borsari said there was never any serious discussion about moving the card elsewhere. “No, we never contemplated going indoors or in a different venue,” he added.
