TKO CEO Ari Emanuel has revealed that the UFC: White House event in June will have fewer fights than anyone had expected, with only six or seven planned.
“At the White House, I think 3,000-4,000 [people will be in attendance], and then there will be other areas [to watch the fights],” Emanuel said on the Pat McAfee Show. “And Dana’s working on it right now.
“There’s going to be, approximately, six to seven fights, June 14… He hasn’t said to us what the card is going to be, but I know they’re working pretty hard at it right now.”
This is the first time there’s been an indication of how many fights the card will have, and it’s come as a surprise given that regular UFC events tend to have roughly 10-14 fights.
A few months ago President Trump had also claimed that there would be “8 or 9 championship fights,” on the line-up, though Dana White had later downplayed that, without giving too much away about their actual plans.
Since the event was first announced last year fighters have been clamouring to feature on the one-of-a-kind event on the grounds of the White House, but the news that there’s so few spots available means that some who were hopeful of being included will now be left disappointed.
It’s worth noting that the number of people at the actual venue at the White House also appears to have been downgraded, as just last month White had stated they were going to have 5,000 people in attendance, while now Emanuel is suggesting it’ll be more like 3000, 4000.
That being said, White had also said at the time that there were plans in place to have a further 85,000 fans gathered nearby to watch on giant screens and Emanuel didn’t give an update on those numbers.
One bit of good news coming out from Emanuel’s interview though was that the event will be simulcast on CBS as well as Paramount+, ensuring that the eagerly anticipated show will be seen by as large an audience as possible.
There’s still no word on who will headline the event at this stage, though Justin Gaethje has this week been talking up the possibility of his expected lightweight title unification bout against Ilia Topuria fronting the show.
Regardless of who ends up being on the bill, Emanuel is in no doubt that it will be must-see TV.
“I don’t know who is not watching that fight [card],” Emanuel said.
