U.S. government attorneys claim the Department of Interior and the National Park Service violated no federal laws in allowing the UFC Freedom 250 card, which will be held on the South Lawn of the White House, to occur this weekend on federal property.
The claim comes in response to an emergency injunction application filed last weekend in District of Columbia federal court by the Public Integrity Project in an attempt to halt the event, which is Sunday.
The lawsuit claims the DOI and the NPS violated federal law by organizing a private sporting event on public property and failing to obtain congressional approval for the UFC's structures on federal land at the White House and Lincoln Memorial, and that there was no environmental review before undertaking the building of the UFC's "claw" stadium at the White House.
The government disputed those claims and argued an injunction would harm the defendants and its affiliated parties (the UFC) because of "well over $60 million" spent and "tens of thousands of hours of labor" expended in preparation of the event. This, the government argued, outweighs the plaintiffs' harm if an injunction is not granted.
The government response also stated the "plaintiffs' delay is inexcusable" in filing the case one week before the event despite public knowledge of UFC Freedom 250 for almost a year. The plaintiffs can file another reply Wednesday evening. Judge Amit P. Mehta can decide to hear oral arguments Thursday before rendering a decision on the injunction application.
Brendan Ballou, the attorney for the Public Integrity Project, told ESPN on Sunday that the suit "is not an attack on MMA in the slightest. This is an attack on the corruption that is facilitating this event." Ballou said the suit is about "a profound misuse of our sacred national monuments for private gain."
In the government response, attorneys argued NPS regulations "do not prohibit events on the White House South Lawn" and instead provide notification that special permits will not be issued. The initial suit claimed UFC Freedom 250 was not being run or organized by an "executive department or agency" or one of the organizers of the United States' 250th birthday celebrations.
The response stated Sunday's fights on the South Lawn are being handled by the White House Office of Executive Residence, not the NPS.
"The NPS's role has been primarily facilitative with respect to the portion of the event on the South Lawn," wrote John Stanwich, the National Park Service liaison to the White House, in a supporting statement filed Tuesday night. Stanwich said his office has mostly worked with the UFC's third-party production companies "to mitigate impacts to park resources and infrastructure" including putting protective mats underneath the new structures.
The initial suit also claimed that building the claw stadium needed congressional approval. The government response described the claw as a temporary structure that, as such, didn't fall under the code needing approval from Congress. The response stated that the claw will start to be disassembled at 10 a.m. Monday and all of the UFC's disassembly would be done by June 23.
The response provided multiple examples of temporary structures on the South Lawn, including an annual T-ball game hosted by President George W. Bush and both a temporary ice skating rink and a covered concert stage for events during President Joe Biden's administration.
The initial suit alleged that the environmental assessment should have taken place before any structures were built on the federal grounds. The response claims environmental assessments apply "only to agency actions, not the activities conducted by the White House on the South Lawn."
Marisa Richardson, the head of the National Mall and Memorial Parks Division of Permits Management, stated in a supporting document filed Tuesday night that the environmental review "had been completed on May 14, 2026" for the other events on federal grounds.
The initial suit claimed no special events are allowed at the Lincoln Memorial other than a ceremony honoring Lincoln's birthday. The government's response countered that the UFC is using an area underneath the base of the memorial and the Reflecting Pool, where events are allowed. The document cited concerts held during inaugural events for Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush at a similar area at the Lincoln Memorial.
"The planned activities around the Lincoln Memorial are comparable to various past permitted special events and demonstrations in the same area," Richardson wrote in her filing.
The government filing also included copies of the National Park permit application from UFC and its parent company, TKO Group Holdings, on Nov. 5, 2025, and the approval on Feb. 25 for the events at the Lincoln Memorial, the Ellipse and the White House. The permit approval did state the UFC's preference was for the weigh-in to be at the Lincoln Memorial, with the Ellipse as the backup option.
