On Sunday night, President Donald Trump celebrated his 80th birthday by hosting a UFC fight on the South Lawn of the White House. The event started as Trump and his longtime friend, UFC CEO Dana White, walked from the White House to the Truman balcony. There, they greeted the 4,000 people seated in the arena, as well as thousands in the crowds outside the gate. While a 12-plane formation of Navy fighter jets and Air Force Thunderbirds flew overhead, the Zac Brown Band sang the national anthem with the U.S. Marine Band. During pre-show spectacles, there was a bald eagle released over the crowd, and professional motorcyclists performed bike stunts over the fountain in the lawn. Organizers constructed a 600-ton steel arch structure known as “the claw” and an octagonal-shaped arena to host the fights. The event was undeterred by forecasted thunderstorms that never came. In the main event of the night, UFC lightweight fighter Ilia Tapuria was defeated by Justin Gaethje. Winners of all the matches received patriotic victory belts inscribed with the dates “1776-2026.” Additionally, the belts were clad with 60-carat diamonds, 250 stars, and an engraving of the White House match. Before the sixth match of the night, a B-1 bomber flew over the arena, causing a huge gust of wind and many cheers. Along with being on Trump’s birthday, the fights were held on Flag Day and were marketed as the start of America’s 250th birthday celebration. To advertise the fight, the UFC posted multiple promotional videos emphasizing the rugged American spirit and other patriotic themes. In one video, Dana White remarked, “Where it is, when it is, what it represents, everything about this makes it the most historic sporting event of all time.” Another video featured an AI-generated Teddy Roosevelt. In the video, the narrator shared the story of how Roosevelt brought many mixed martial arts fighters to the White House to spar with him personally during his administration. Roosevelt said, “It is not the critic who counts. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement. And who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails, daring greatly.” As Roosevelt predicted, there were many critics of the $60 million event held yesterday. Former President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, commented in a video interview, “I like the UFC. They ruined it.” Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said the news of the UFC fights was “just disappointing” and “a sad lesson for our kids.” Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel joked that the octagon “has eight sides, one for each year of our lives the president has ruined.” However, many others enjoyed the event, including the CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, the president of Paramount, David Ellison, and many of Trump’s children and grandchildren, who watched matches ringside. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the UFC event as a “gift to the American people.” The Sunday UFC fights precede many other celebrations to come this summer for the country’s semiquincentennial from the America250 campaign, including fireworks, concerts, and gatherings across the country from New York City to Los Angeles.