WASHINGTON, D.C. -- UFC on Friday night held the first of its events at landmarks in the nation’s capital for Sunday’s Freedom 250 card, with a press conference on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Originally scheduled for 8:15pm ET, the press conference was delayed until closer to 9:30pm due to rain, but once the showers eased, hundred of fans packed the area just in front of the Washington Monument’s reflecting pool.
Lined by military service members on the steps, fighters on the card walked down from Abraham Lincoln’s enormous statue to the dais. UFC president and CEO Dana White announced that World Liberty Financial, the crypto-related company co-founded by the Trump family, would be a sponsor for the Freedom 250 card and add $250,000 to the performance bonuses to be doled out.
With the White House grounds set to host its first professional sporting event, signage at the press conference proclaimed Freedom 250 as “The most historic sporting event of all time.” The card, which survived a legal challenge that was denied by a judge Friday, adds to UFC’s recent streak of unusual sites for fights after it held the first sports competition at the Sphere in 2024. It also is the latest historic location for a combat sports event, after Saudi power broker Turki Al-Sheikh put on a boxing card next to the Pyramids in Egypt last month.
Earlier on Friday, startup defense contractor Anduril Industries announced it had signed on with TKO Group to be a Freedom 250 sponsor. Anduril, which is also a major sponsor of NASCAR’s Naval Base Coronado race near San Diego next weekend, will get Octagon branding and broadcast integrations and will be a sponsor of UFC 330 in Philadelphia in August. It also becomes a sponsor of TKO’s Zuffa Boxing, which will hold a special fight card with military members who box as part of the deal.
Other Freedom 250 sponsors include Crowdstrike, Crypto.com, Exodus, Ram and SuperFile. Sunday’s seven-fight card will stream on Paramount+ at 8:00pm ET and is headlined by Ilia Topuria versus Justin Gaethje for the lightweight title.
