Rain, Permits, and a SEAR 1 Designation: The UFC’s White House Wild West

The United States Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, indicated on Saturday night at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that he will grant a permit for Freedom Fights 250 on the White House’s South Lawn on June 14th.

John McArdle of CSPAN asked Burgum, “You were just talking about needing a permit to do a UFC fight outside of the White House,” prompting a big laugh from Burgum and Dana White, who was standing just beside him. When asked if he was planning on issuing the permit, Burgum replied, “Absolutely! This is going to be spectacular. This is going to be one of the most memorable…100 years from now they’re going to be talking about June 14th, 2026.” White, possibly relieved but still chuckling, retorted, “I couldn’t have done it any better than that! Thank you, sir! Thank you for the permits, we’re going to need them!”

In December of 2025, SevereMMA.com reached out to the National Park Service about this event as well as the use of the Ellipse, to which they provided the following: “The National Park Service’s role is limited to issuing the permit for use of the lawn and having on-site monitors to ensure the permit conditions are followed. All event operations, logistics, and coordination are being led by the White House Executive Office of the President.” The NPS did not respond to multiple further requests for comment/clarity on whether or not they actually issued these permits. It is worth noting that the NPS is a bureau of the DOI, with Burgum having been assigned to be Secretary of the Interior by President Trump just one month after the NPS provided the above quote.

Burgum’s countenance comes two weeks after Dana White’s quote on potential weather delays, which raised plenty of eyebrows. On a Kick.com livestream with creator Adin Ross, Dana White revealed the only weather that would cause a delay at Freedom Fights 250, an outdoor event, would be lightning: “The only thing – nothing will stop this show from going that night. It could fucking rain, it can whatever- lightning. Lightning is the only thing, and what we’d have to do, we’d have to wait it out. We’d have to wait the lightning out, and then do the fight”.

SevereMMA.com reached out to multiple commissioners in the United States on how their organizations would handle potential weather delays for an outdoor event if they were to sanction one. One commissioner responded that his commission “wouldn’t have a role in this decision and would rely on our public safety partners to make such a determination.” The UFC acknowledged receipt of our inquiry for comment on this, but did not provide one after multiple requests.

Meanwhile, TMZ reported last week that the Department of Homeland Security has designated Freedom Fights 250 as a Level 1 Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR). A SEAR 1 event has the highest level of federal security support possible. Events like the Super Bowl, the Boston Marathon, and selected UN General Assembly meetings often come with SEAR 1 status. TMZ also reported that the UFC Fan Fest on June 13th will be a SEAR 1 event. It is still unclear at this point as to which agencies will be assigned to which specific duties during fight week.

TMZ published their story about SEAR 1 designation at Freedom Fights 250 on April 20th, and five days later the President, Vice President, and several cabinet members would be evacuated out of a Washington Hilton Hotel ballroom after an attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The Secret Service was able to apprehend the shooter, with one Secret Service member surviving gunshots due to his protective bulletproof vest. FOX News’ Peter Doocy reported the following day that the public should expect updates regarding major security improvements, also mentioning that there are internal debates on whether or not President Trump should wear a bulletproof vest at all public events moving forward.

Dana White, who attended the event and sat in the front row at a Paramount-designated table, described the commotion as “fucking awesome”.