Dana White Says UFC White House event makes Sphere Look Like “Chump Change”.
White didn’t mince words, calling the cost of staging the White House event “chump change” when compared to what lies ahead.
UFC President Dana White says the promotion’s upcoming UFC White House event planned for Saturday, June 14, 2026 on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. will be far more expensive and complex to produce than one of the sport’s biggest spectacle shows ever held at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
White’s comments came in a detailed interview with TNT Fight Sports as the UFC begins logistical planning for what could be the most ambitious event in the promotion’s 30-plus-year history. He explained that while UFC 306 at the Sphere in September 2024 which reportedly cost more than $20 million was massive, the White House production is on a completely different level.
According to White, the level of security, custom infrastructure, and production design required for such a venue places it in a completely different category from any arena or stadium show the UFC has ever attempted.
“There’s a laundry list of challenges,” White told TNT Sports. “First of all, the South Lawn slopes like this, let’s start there. There’s only a certain amount of people you can get in. And then, Secret Service, I’ve been to the White House a million times and I get a lot of leeway at the White House. Everybody knows I’m not there to hurt anybody, so when we bring in 4,500 people that night plus all the production staff and everybody that has to be a part of the event. There’s two things: What the Sphere cost is like chump change that you throw in your ashtray compared to what this is going to cost, No. 1.
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And No. 2, logistically pulling this off is insane.”
As difficult as it will be to deliver a satisfying show for the VIPs in attendance, including President Donald Trump, White is confident that if everything goes according to plan, it will be the biggest accomplishment of his career.
“ No doubt about it,” White said. “Sitting here right now, the Sphere is [the best thing the UFC has done]. Pulling this off makes the Sphere look like finger painting.”
The event is expected to host roughly 4,500 VIPs and production staff, but no official fight card has been announced yet. White said that ensuring the visual experience and meeting safety and security standards has meant meticulous planning, down to mapping tree locations and modeling sun positions on the lawn to time video and lighting perfectly.
So as much as White is feeling the pressure to keep the ship steady, even he admits they’re now playing with house money.
“We’re at a point now with this machine where we can do anything,” White said. “We can literally—I’m doing a boxing match tomorrow, Saturday we’re going to do a UFC event, which is going to pull an $11 million gate, and then we’re going to go to the other side of the world and do it again. And then all through ‘26, between, for me, boxing, UFC, Power Slap, and now jiu-jitsu, I’m running four different companies at the same time and all over the world and different times, different days, it’s going to be a hell of a year.”
If the plan becomes reality, the White House card won’t just be another UFC event , it will be a historic moment that shows how far the sport has come. And judging by Dana White’s words, the price tag may be huge, but the statement it would make to the world could be even bigger.
