UFC's White House Fight Card Reportedly Set for June 2026, Planning Details Revealed

Despite initial plans for the 2026 UFC event at the White House to take place on the Fourth of July, the show has been moved up due to the number of events in Washington, D.C. around that time as part of President Donald Trump's plans for the America 250 celebration.

Per Alex Leary of the Wall Street Journal, the UFC show at the White House has been "shifted to sometime in June."

Additional plans for the event include fighter weigh-ins and the traditional press conference to be held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Leary noted there is also talk of having fighters warm up for their matches in the White House, with the octagon being set up on the south lawn.

There was one thought early in the planning stages to have fighters walk out from the Oval Office and through a colonnade into the cage set up in the Rose Garden, but Leary wrote that Trump and others want "a bigger show with more spectators," so that idea was abandoned in favor of the South Lawn setup.

Leary did emphasize that all of these plans are still in the early stages and things could change.

It's unclear how many people will be able to attend the show given the security required to get access to the White House.

When Trump surprisingly announced his desire to hold a UFC event on the White House grounds in July, he also said he would like to have a crowd of more than 20,000 spectators for the show.

UFC president Dana White confirmed on Aug. 28 that the White House show "is on" after he went to D.C. for a series of meetings to finalize plans and that he would offer more details in the coming weeks.

Several fighters have expressed a desire to compete on the show. Jon Jones, who announced his retirement in June and vacated the heavyweight title, has said he would come back for one more fight if it's on the White House card.

White has downplayed the idea of Jones competing on the show. He told reporters during the UFC 319 post-fight press conference he would give "a billion-to-1 odds" of Jones making it onto the card.

The other marquee fighter who has publicly campaigned to be on the show is Conor McGregor, who hasn't competed in UFC since 2021. White has expressed more confidence in putting McGregor on the card than Jones, but it's unclear if anything will materialize involving the 37-year-old after numerous stop-and-start teases over the years.