Everyone complains about the weather, and the only thing the UFC could do about it on Sunday night was submit to it.
With thunderstorms looming in the forecast in the hours leading up to UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House, the UFC opted to delay its start time by one hour to 9 p.m.
The seven-fight event had been projected to last until about four hours with no plans to halt the action for anything short of lightning in the area – the one weather element that gives the UFC no choice but to pause for at least 30 minutes. But Weather Channel projections called for a 57 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms in the 8 p.m. hour and a 100 percent certainty of thunderstorms in the 9 p.m. hour.
Forecasts earlier in the day suggested the potential for thunderstorms could linger all the way through to midnight, though the possibility of such weather activity after 10 p.m. had shrunk to negligible levels.
UFC CEO Dana White had told reporters Tuesday that rain was not going to interrupt the unorthodox fight card.
“I don’t care if it snows, rains, whatever; we’re going,” White said. “And even lightning. You guys all played sports when you were growing up — whenever there was lightning, you’d sit the lightning out, and then when it was over, you played. That’s what we’ll do.”
The action, timed with Flag Day as well as the 80th birthday of President Trump and to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the country’s independence, was headlined by a pair of championship fights.
Lightweight champion Ilia Topuria of Spain and interim champ Justin Gaethje were set to unify their championships in the main event, preceded by a bout to determine a new interim heavyweight titleholder between former two-division champion Alex Pereira and one-time interim champ Ciryl Gane.