Trump's 80th birthday bash: Lawsuit calls White House UFC fight illegal

A watch dog group has filed for a federal lawsuit aiming at blocking an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event.

The mixed martial event is scheduled to take place on the White House South Lawn on June 24, celebrating the U.S. President’s 80th birthday.

However, the lawsuit alleges that organising such events is illegal as arranging such events using public landmarks for private gain is not permissible.

Alongside Trump’s birthday, the event known as “UFC Freedom 250” also commemorates that nation's semiquincentennial.

In the lawsuit, filed on Saturday, June 6, by the Public Integrity Project, the plaintiff argued that the Trump administration violated federal law by bypassing standard permitting processes.

The claim alleges that the fight does not satisfy the requirement but is instead “an event celebrating the UFC brand and its 80th birthday of President Donald Trump.”

Other allegations include “The Claw”, a 92-foot-tall, 600-ton steel structure installed at South Lawn without any congressional approval or an environmental impact statement.

Further adding to the problem of conflicts of interest, reports reveal that in March, the president bought between $10,000 and $50,000 worth of stock from the UFC’s parent company.

What’s more controversial is Trump's purchase of up to $50,000 stocks of the UFC’s parent company in March. The lead attorney of the plaintiffs argued: “This is fundamentally a private, commercial, corrupt use of our most sacred national monuments for private gain.”

UFC Freedom 250 expected fight card

The following fights are likely to take place to conclude the fight card:

• Bantamweight: Former UFC Bantamweight Champion Sean O'Malley versus Aiemann Zahabi, who is on a winning streak of seven straight wins in UFC bouts.
  
• Lightweight: Maurício Ruffy versus former three-time Bellator Lightweight World Champion, and former UFC lightweight title challenger, Michael Chandler.
  
• Middleweight: Three-time NCAA Division I National Wrestling Champion Bo Nickal versus Kyle Daukaus, who is undefeated in six previous bouts.
  
• Featherweight: Former featherweight title challenger Diego Lopes versus Steve Garcia, who is undefeated in his last seven UFC bouts.
  
• Heavyweight: Former heavyweight title challenger Derrick Lewis versus Josh Hokit, who is unbeaten with a perfect 9-0 record.
  

Many celebrities who were invited, such as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Adam Sandler, will apparently not be in attendance. The Washington forecast for June 14 calls for possible thunderstorms.