A new lawsuit has been filed in an effort to stop the UFC Freedom 250 event from taking place at the White House.
The suit, brought by Virginia residents Paul Romano and Susan Douglas, targets the UFC’s planned Sunday card at the White House and alleges that Donald Trump is giving Dana White and the UFC access to the White House and Lincoln Memorial to stage a private, for-profit sports event. The filing is backed by the Public Integrity Project.
Douglas, described as “a longtime civic activist and organizer,” sharply criticized the arrangement, saying, “The President arranged to hand two of America's most cherished monuments to a private corporation so he and his allies could profit from them. That is corruption,” and adding, “These monuments belong to all of us Americans, not to Dana White, not to advertisers like Crypto.com, and not to Donald Trump. We're asking the court to enforce the law because the administration refuses to.” Another description in the case calls the situation “deeply corrupt” and refers to “unfettered access to the White House and Lincoln Memorial to stage a private, for-profit sports event, with all the promotional and branding opportunities that accompany such access.”
UFC CEO Dana White responded to the legal challenge by saying, “We were expecting a lawsuit,” and, “We expected everything coming into this event. We thought it would be sooner. We knew it was going to come. We didn't know who or how, but we knew it was coming.”
UFC Freedom 250 is scheduled to feature Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje for the undisputed lightweight title and Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title.
