Lawsuit filed to shut down UFC White House event days before unprecedented card

A last-gasp lawsuit has been filed in a late attempt to derail UFC’s unprecedented White House event.

The legal action comes one week before the UFC is scheduled to host a seven-fight bill on the South Lawn to commemorate 250 years of American Independence.

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Paul Romano, a retired Air Force Sergeant, and Susan Douglas, a long-time civic activist, filed the suit on Saturday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to “preserve Washington’s monumental spaces”.

The lawsuit accuses the show, officially known as UFC Freedom 250, of being “deeply corrupt”.

“On June 14, 2026, for the first time in this nation’s history, a live sporting event will be held on the White House grounds—or at least it will if President Donald J. Trump has his way,” writes the lead attorney on the case, Samuel T. Ward-Packard.

“Trump’s administration has authorized the Ultimate Fighting Championship (“UFC”), a mixed martial arts promotion, to put on a night of cage fights on the South Lawn.

“The plan is for fighters to conduct the ceremonial weigh-ins and face-offs at the Lincoln Memorial, make pre-fight walkouts from the Oval Office, and do combat in a massive structure now under construction just steps from the Executive Residence.

“This plan is deeply corrupt,” alleged the plaintiffs.

“The event, billed as “UFC Freedom 250,” is (as the name suggests) being organized by the UFC, whose chief executive, Dana White, is a close friend and ally of the President.

“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...

“Trump purchased up to $50,000 in UFC parent company TKO stock earlier this spring, while White’s company is selling VIP packages for $1.5 million each, and benefiting from what one TKO executive called ‘the greatest earned-marketing tool of all time.’

“Additionally, a weigh-in for fighters is scheduled for the night before and is set to occur at the Lincoln Memorial.”

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The lawsuit alleges that the event and the construction of the arena are unlawful.

“Federal law tightly restricts private use of the national capital’s most sacred monumental spaces, which are national parklands,” the lawsuit adds.

“The suit argues that under the National Park Service’s usual permitting regime, “no special events of any sort, including any sporting events, may be held on the South Lawn or at the Lincoln Memorial.

“Nor may structures be erected on the South Lawn without express authorization from Congress and a thorough environmental review.”

The White House describes the filing as 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.”

talkSPORT.com has reached out to the UFC for comment.

UFC White House will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje, with Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane acting as chief support in a bout for the interim heavyweight belt.