WASHINGTON, D.C. — The bugs may be a distraction and draw much of the attention.
But it’s the humidity that may be the real issue for fighters on the UFC Freedom 250 card at the White House on Sunday night as the organization puts on an outdoor event for the first time.
UFC President and CEO Dana White has long resisted putting on fights outside because of all the potential variables involved, but the opportunity to build a temporary venue on the famed south lawn outweighed the logistical hurdles.
White has said his biggest concern with this particular location are rain, lighting and bugs, the third of which was reinforced during a recent function at the Rose Garden where he encountered swarms of gnats.
The thought of high-level professional athletes trying to dodge flying insects while also trying not to get punched or choked out certainly adds a level of intrigue to an already captivating event.
“When there’s so much danger in front of you in a fight already, none of that matters,” said Justin Gaethje, who will fight Ilia Topuria for the lightweight title in the main event. “The humidity is going to be the only thing that’s a real factor.”
Gaethje did his best to prepare for fighting in what could be stifling conditions even deep into the evening.
He broke down atmospheric conditions at the White House for this time of year over the past five decades and tried his best to simulate the environment during training.
“I put myself in the sauna before my workouts so I can work out with my body heat elevated,” he said at Wednesday’s media day at the JW Marriott across from the White House. “Or I go in the sauna mid-workout and really peak my temperature so that I have to perform in that atmosphere. All I can do is try to replicate the conditions I’m going to be in. But I have been here the last few days and gone out around the time I’m going to fight and it’s been nice. Nothing compared to the sauna.”
Aiemann Zahabi, who will fight Sean O’Malley in a featured bantamweight bout, has been unknowingly preparing for this moment his entire career.
“This is the first year we’ve had air conditioning in our gym, which is a nice little plus,” he quipped. “And it’s just as humid, if not more so, in Montreal. I’ve never had a summer without humidity in the gym so I’ve been ready for this. I came out May 31st and I’ve been training outside every evening. I’ve noticed it gets more humid in the evening and I’ve been getting used to it.”
O’Malley actually believes it will play a physiological factor.
“Humidity is a real thing,” he said. “It will get your heart rate higher than it typically would be inside an air-conditioned environment and as a fighter, your goal is to keep your heart rate low. That’s the biggest thing. The bugs would not be fun, but you’re also in such a different mindset and a different world when you’re inside the octagon that I’m not going to get too worried about it. Maybe if there’s thousands of mosquitos it would be a problem. But I think it’s going to be a beautiful day and it’s going to play out perfect.”
That’s the hope for the UFC, which has spent more than $60 million on the event and has developed a multitude of contingency plans for anything that could potentially go wrong. Right now, that includes the possibility of rain. The organization is working full-time this week with a meteorologist and have the potential to move around the schedule from a planned 8 p.m. EDT start time to avoid precipitation, though that could open the potential for even warmer temperatures earlier in the day.
It’s all part of why White has always been so opposed to such events. This opportunity was just too massive to pass up.
Michael Chandler, who will fight Mauricio Ruffy in a lightweight bout, sees a potential advantage in the situation.
“I train down in hot, humid, bug-filled South Florida,” he said. “We’ve trained outside a bit, hit some pads outside and moved around outside. But I’m not going to sit here and say I’ve done a whole lot of training outside for this. I’ve done nothing but compete since I was 14 years old. I’ve fought in the best of conditions and the worst of conditions. The loudest of conditions and the quietest of conditions. I’ve fought injured. I’ve fought sick. I’ve done it all. More than anything, if I say I’m stacking myself up against and opponent and you add these extra variables, I like my chances 10 times out of 10 of handling it better.”
Even if that means a wild scenario like a bug flying in his eye during the fight.
“I’d like to sit here and say I’m not going to notice it,” he said. “I’ll blink a couple times and hope it buzzes off. But you suck in one to your nose? Who knows? But I like my chances with a bug in my eye better than my opponent. I like my chances with a bug in my lungs better than my opponent.
“And I certainly like my chances 100 degrees and humid better than my opponent.”
He will get a chance to put that confidence to the test on Sunday.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
