{"id":14359,"date":"2026-06-11T22:31:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T22:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=14359"},"modified":"2026-06-11T22:31:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T22:31:54","slug":"lights-camera-cage-match-the-white-house-lawns-octagon-is-ready-for-trumps-80th-birthday-bash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=14359","title":{"rendered":"Lights! Camera! Cage match! The White House lawn\u2019s Octagon is ready for Trump\u2019s 80th birthday bash"},"content":{"rendered":"

By WILL WEISSERT<\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 It looks from afar more UFO than UFC.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s the kind of contraption that has carried space aliens to the White House to force a meeting with America\u2019s leader.<\/p>

Read more USMNT begins World Cup journey against Paraguay<\/a><\/p>\n

But come closer and you\u2019ll see the contours of the eight-sided cage, 30 feet in diameter and shaped, with careful precision, like the MMA league\u2019s signature Octagon.<\/p>\n

That is, a STOP! sign flipped on its edge, with wire-mesh sides and padded corners fitted with different sponsors\u2019 logos: Morgan & Morgan, Bud Light, Dodge Ram, Corona Extra and Polymarket, which identifies itself as the world\u2019s largest prediction market.<\/p>\n

Overhead looms The Claw, a four-sided mass that arcs more than 90 feet into the air and features lights, speakers, thick snakes of wiring and four large screens so fans not seated right next to the Octagon can follow the cage fighting below.<\/p>\n

Think more of the four-sided, metal grabby thing that tries to grasp stuffed animals at a video arcade rather than what house cats have \u2014 hence the extraterrestrial vibes.<\/p>\n

And surrounding all that are risers filled with gray folding chairs forming a temporary arena expected to seat 4,000-plus people for the seven UFC fights being staged on Sunday to celebrate the 80th birthday of President Donald Trump and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence\u2019s signing.<\/p>

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\u2018Quite attractive to a lot of people\u2019<\/h4>\n

For non-UFC fans, all of this might be disorienting under any circumstances. But the temporary arena is covering nearly the entirety of the White House\u2019s South Lawn, where Marine One usually lands to ferry the president to out-of-town trips and gobs of kids scramble in the grass during the Easter Egg Roll every spring.<\/p>\n

More than $60 million and tens of thousands of hours of labor have been poured into building the arena, according to a court filing from the National Park Service, which oversees the South Lawn and is contesting a lawsuit meant to block the event.<\/p>\n

The White House says the UFC is covering the costs, though the filing states that seven agencies \u2014 including the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Aviation Administration \u2014 have \u201callocated significant resources and manpower.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fighters, their entourages and assorted support staffers are expected to take over the driveway and part of the West Wing when they\u2019re not fighting. But they\u2019ll enter the arena via curtained-off walkways with access to the Octagon.<\/p>

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They, as well as ordinary attendees of Sunday\u2019s spectacle, will have picturesque views of the White House\u2019s Executive Residence and its storied Truman Balcony on one side and the Washington Monument towering in the distance on the other. All of it will be accentuated by swirling spotlights, and perhaps even sweat and blood pouring off the fighters pummeling each other.<\/p>\n

A packed pre-event schedule includes a press conference at the Lincoln Memorial with UFC chief Dana White and the fighters on Friday night.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a ceremonial weigh-in for combatants on Saturday at the Ellipse, a park near the White House, where organizers expect 120,000-plus visitors to watch Sunday night\u2019s proceedings on large screens after winning free tickets in a lottery.<\/p>

Read more Dodgers place catcher Will Smith on IL with \u2018inflamed disc\u2019 in his neck<\/a><\/p>\n

Stunt athlete Travis Pastrana is also set to do a potentially death-defying backflip on a dirt bike on the White House lawn as part of the preshow extravaganza.<\/p>\n