President Donald Trump's desire to hold an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event on the south lawn of the White House, as part of the agenda to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States, but above all to celebrate his 80th birthday, will cost more than $60 million.

Since July of last year, the New York magnate announced his intention to organize a UFC card as part of the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of independence.

The declaration with which the formal separation of the British Empire was achieved and with it American independence was signed on July 4, 1776, so Trump considered it appropriate to celebrate this event by setting up an octagon in a space near the official residence and offering a great performance of mixed martial arts, a sport of which he has long been a fan.

Under that approach, work began on preparations under the advice of Dana White, president of the UFC, and in mid-May it was announced that the evening would include five fights, of which the main one will be a duel between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje where the lightweight title will be in dispute.

Three weeks in advance, the assembly of the first structures of a huge stage began.

Although UFC officials anticipate that the million-dollar prizes to be distributed among the winners of the fights will be covered entirely by Crypto.com, court documents project that the cost of the event will exceed $60 million.

This amount of money covers the assembly of the octagon, food and payment of the 900 workers in charge of installing the stands for the public attending next Sunday's evening, as well as the rest of the expenses.

"More than $60 million dollars and tens of thousands of hours of work have been invested in preparation. More than 4,000 spectators are expected to attend the South Lawn, including more than 1,000 members of our armed forces, and more than 120,000 visitors are expected to witness the event from the nearby Ellipse after winning free tickets in a lottery," details part of a document recently presented by the government.

During an interview with the news platform The Hollywood Reporter, Mark Shapiro, president and director of operations of TKO, parent company of the UFC, announced that he will not earn a single dollar from the event.

"We are not going to make money from the 250th anniversary of the United States. This is a long-term investment. It is about getting free media coverage. We view this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as a strategic investment to drive subscriber acquisition on Paramount , a massive sample of the UFC's audience in general and media coverage similar to that of the Super Bowl around the world," he said.

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