Washington– From a distance it looks like a more UFO UFC.
This may be the type of alien device that transported aliens to the White House to force a meeting with the American leader.
But get closer and you will see features Eight-sided cageis 30 feet (9 meters) in diameter and is precisely shaped, like the mixed martial arts league’s signature octagon. That is, stop! Upside-down banner, mesh sides and padded corners with various sponsors’ logos: Morgan & Morgan, Bud Light, Dodge Ram, Corona Extra, and Polymarket, which bills itself as the world’s largest prediction market.
Looming over the horizon is “The Claw,” a four-sided mass that rises more than 90 feet (27 m) in the air and features lights, speakers, thick snakes of wire and four large screens so fans not seated next to the octagon can follow the cage fight below.
Think more about the four-sided metal thing trying to catch stuffed animals at a video arcade than what house cats have – hence the extraterrestrial vibes.
Surrounding it all is cranes filled with gray folding chairs, forming a temporary arena expected to seat more than 4,000 people for seven. UFC fights Which will be held on Sunday to celebrate the president’s eightieth birthday Donald Trump and 250th anniversary From the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
For non-UFC fans, all of this can be confusing under any circumstances. But the temporary plaza covers almost the entire South Lawn of the White House, where Marine One usually lands to take the president on out-of-town trips and groups of children crowd the grass while doing so. Easter egg roll Every spring.
More than $60 million and tens of thousands of man-hours were pumped into building the plaza, according to a court filing from the National Park Service, which oversees the South Park and competes for lawsuit It means preventing the event.
The White House says the UFC is covering the costs, though the filing states that seven agencies — including the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Aviation Administration — “dedicated significant resources and manpower.”
Fighters, their entourage and assorted support staff are expected to man the corridor and part of the West Wing when they are not fighting. But they will enter the arena via curtained walkways with access to the Octagon.
They, in addition to regular attendees of Sunday’s spectacle, will have stunning views of the White House Executive Residence and the historic Truman Balcony on one side, and the towering Washington Monument on the other. It will all be highlighted by swirling floodlights, and perhaps even sweat and blood pouring from fighters attacking each other.
The packed pre-event schedule includes a press conference at the Lincoln Memorial with the UFC president Dana White And the fighters on Friday night.
There is also a ceremonial weigh-in for fighters on Saturday at the Ellipse, a park near the White House where organizers expect more than 120,000 visitors to watch Sunday night’s proceedings on big screens after winning free tickets in a lottery.
Stunt athlete Travis Pastrana is also scheduled to perform a potentially death-defying backflip on a dirt bike on the White House lawn as part of the pre-parade extravaganza.
Trump has described the octagon and its claw as “very attractive to a lot of people.” He even suggested that the temporary structure might become permanent, like the Eiffel Tower, which he noted was originally built as part of the 1889 Universal Exposition but was never removed.
Only the president knows how serious this proposal is.
Work on the arena began on May 20 and continued for weeks. As reporters toured Thursday, construction sounds could be heard — especially sanding and hammering. Giant cranes were carrying materials overhead, even though that was for them The $400 million ballroom Which Trump is building nearby, not a UFC fight.
The remaining grassy lawn around the plaza, on the other sides of the White House, was outfitted with additional floodlights. But the grass that normally grows between the White House and the beginning of the plaza’s risers is now gone, and all that’s left is dusty dirt that will need to be resurfaced when this is all over, unless the president really decides to leave the plaza permanently.
There is also a large Freedom 250 logo standing between the White House and the plaza. Nearby, crews removed tables and yellow patio umbrellas from Trump’s home Renovated rose garden They would power wash that space, as well as the colonnade leading to the Oval Office, in preparation for battles.
Sunday’s event starts at 8pm ET. As darkness falls, crews will illuminate The Claw in red, white and blue, and the mass of lights will provide projections that make it appear as if the entire structure has been enveloped in a rotating stars-and-stripes pattern.
The weather forecast indicates that the weather will be hot and humid, with the possibility of thunderstorms. The underside of The Claw Tower features a top cover that will keep the fighters reasonably dry in the event of rain – and Trump will also likely watch from a protected, covered area.
But everyone will almost certainly get wet.
White has even pledged that Heavy lightning – When The Claw is an obvious target for the spikes – it won’t stop the show.
“I don’t care if it snows,” White said.