UFC’s Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn of the White House is less than a week away, but a newly filed federal lawsuit seeks to halt the mixed-martial arts competition.
The Public Integrity Project, a Washington, D.C.-based organization seeking to combat political and corporate corruption, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that the event violated strict National Park Service regulations, failed to secure Congressional approval, and did not involve a required environmental review.
Among the core issues is the construction of a 600-ton, claw-shaped structure that hangs over the UFC octagon on the South Lawn and dwarfs the adjacent White House, and the separate staging of a pre-fight press conference at the Lincoln Memorial.
The suit seeks a declaration that the UFC event is unlawful, and an emergency restraining order that would bring an immediate end to the use of the South Lawn and Lincoln Memorial for these functions. UFC Freedom 250, headlined by a light heavyweight unification fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje, is set for Sunday night.
“The issue isn’t strictly about having UFC, or any sporting event, on these grounds. It’s about the corruption around it,” Brendan Ballou, Public Integrity Project CEO, tells Front Office Sports. “This is about having a for-profit enterprise on these grounds, with VIP packages for more than $1 million, sponsored in part by a cryptocurrency exchange, run on a subscription-based streaming service, and by a company [UFC parent TKO Group Holdings] that the president has personally invested in. There was a legal, non-corrupt way to do this.”
Recent disclosures detailed that Trump bought between $15,000 and $50,000 in TKO shares.
Leaning into the Relationship
The lawsuit also highlights a core element of UFC Freedom 250: the longtime friendship between U.S. President Donald Trump and UFC president and CEO Dana White that enabled the event.
“This plan is deeply corrupt,” the suit reads. “The president is giving White and his company what none have enjoyed before: unfettered access to the White House and Lincoln Memorial to stage a private, for-profit sports event, with all the promotional and branding opportunities that accompany such access.”
The White House decried the legal action.
“This is an obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory lawsuit brought simply to prevent President Trump from hosting what will undoubtedly go down as one of the most historic sporting events in our nation’s history during our semiquincentennial celebration,” the Trump Administration said. “This iconic event is no different than the various other White House-hosted events on the South Lawn and properly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mall throughout the year.”
UFC, which is not a party to the lawsuit, declined to comment Monday. The listed defendants are the National Park Service that oversees those federal grounds, two of its directors in their official capacities, and the U.S. Department of the Interior that includes the NPS.
Even if the lawsuit fails to stop UFC Freedom 250, the dispute may continue, as Trump said about the claw structure in a social media video last week that “maybe we’ll never, ever take it down.”
The case has been referred to District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta.
