Preparations for the U.S. 250th anniversary– and President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday — are underway in Washington, D.C., in the form of another construction project: a UFC fighting cage on the White House lawn.
Crews are constructing an octagon-shaped cage on the South Lawn that will host next month’s UFC fight as part of the celebrations for the country and its president.
Digital renderings shared by the UFC on X of the completed cage and the surrounding fan festival show what the wire-mesh octagon is expected to look like ahead of the June 14 event.
It will be ringed by a red, white and blue stage beneath a towering arch featuring stars and stripes patterns and two large screens carrying the action live.
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The cage and stage will be surrounded by thousands of temporary seats and a designated area for a marching band.
The UFC fight is part of a series celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
Other planned events include an IndyCar race that will pass by the White House and the Great American State Fair on the National Mall.
Photos of the build show the arch in the final stages of construction, surrounded by cranes and scaffolding.
Equipment is seen being placed on the South Lawn of the White House on May 26, 2026, for a future UFC mixed martial arts fight to be held on June 14 as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
Mark Schiefelbein/ CP Images
Trump announced the UFC fight in July during an appearance in Iowa and teased a 25,000-seat event, though he later said it would feature “a 5,000-seat arena right outside the front door of the White House,” The Associated Press reported.
Big screens showing the fights will be set up at The Ellipse, a large park south of the White House, and the UFC has said it plans to provide up to 85,000 free tickets for viewers at both sites.
“I have never seen anybody want anything so much as people want those tickets,” Trump said of the demand to attend the fight.
The lineup has been lambasted by fans online for lacking top talent and featuring just two championship fights.
Brazil’s Alex Pereira will meet France’s Ciryl Gane for the interim UFC heavyweight title. Then Spanish-Georgian lightweight champion Ilia Topuria takes on interim champ Justin Gaethje, one of just two Americans who currently hold even a share of the UFC’s 11 championship belts.
The octagon and its supporting structures are the latest project to be built under Trump, who is spearheading several construction and regeneration efforts at the White House and in Washington, D.C., writ large.
Other projects include plans to build a “Triumphal Arch,” which is set to stand at 250 feet tall and include a Lady Liberty-like statue on top flanked by two eagles and guarded at the base by four gilded lions, as well as renaming and renovating the Kennedy Center, and demolishing the White House East Wing to build a ballroom with an underground bunker.
— with files from The Associated Press
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