American president Donald Trump’s UFC White House card has hit a significant snag, with bad weather delaying a press conference at the historic Lincoln Memorial.
Worse, weather predictions are also now suggesting a chance of rain for fight night — which could seriously impact the $60 million South Lawn blockbuster.
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On Friday, Fox Sports Australia was on one of two media buses that were turned back to the UFC hotel while on the way to the venue.
UFC officials confirmed rain and lightning as the cause of the action.
After a delay of some 30 minutes, however, journalists were then bussed to the Lincoln Memorial where a huge live crowd has gathered.
Unsurprisingly, there is also a huge police and military presence.
There has already been rain in Washington DC today and early forecasts have also suggested there is a chance of rain on Sunday, the day of the event.
However, speaking with Fox Sports Australia this week, UFC Freedom 250 event organiser Craig Borsari said the event would likely go ahead in rain.
UFC boss Dana White, meanwhile, was even more bullish and said not even lightening will stop the show.
Asked by reporters on Tuesday if he was worried about weather impacting things, White said: “Not at all. Borsari’s all over that.
“Borsari, my head of production, is like the most OCD guy on the planet and we’re getting [news], we’re going to good on Sunday.
“I mean, if you read the internet the f***ing whole show is getting shut down on Sunday. But I don’t care if it snows, rains, whatever, we’re going — and even lightning. You guys all played sports when you were growing up — whenever there was lightning, you’d sit the lightning out, and then when it was over, you played. That’s what we’ll do. And if there would be lightning, we’d know it days before, and then we would work around it.”
Borsari also discussed the issue with us this week.
While there is a small roof at The Claw’s apex, UFC Freedom 250 remains an outdoor event in every sense.
“So we’ve had multiple conference calls about contingency planning, and where everything is doom and gloom,” Borsari grinned.
“We’ve thrown up every single scenario you can imagine – thunder, lightning, rain coming in sideways, even what sort of winds would be required for us to evacuate.
“If there was light to moderate rain, I’d say we will try to forge ahead and complete the event.
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“So long as the spectators and athletes are safe.
“But lightning is a fairly simple one — if there’s a lightning strike within eight miles of the Octagon, we need to evacuate the South Lawn.”