With UFC fight night wrapped at the White House, days of breakdown and cleanup begin
By Betsy Klein, CNN
(CNN) — The moment UFC fight night attendees were evacuated from the White House South Lawn and the Ellipse early Monday, crews began an extensive cleanup process, breaking down a massive production setup in an effort that is slated to take more than a week.
And despite a previous suggestion from President Donald Trump that the “Claw” lighting structure could become a more permanent fixture of the White House, its breakdown is among the first steps.
“The Claw will be disassembled immediately after the Event concludes. Plans are in place for demobilization to begin at 10:00am on June 15, 2026,” said a sworn declaration from Joshua Fisher, White House management and administration director.
Creating an arena with seating for 4,000 audience members and broadcast capabilities on the White House South Lawn, plus a fan festival for more than 100,000 guests on the Ellipse, was a massive production — and investment — requiring a year of planning and weeks of setup.
“This is a highly complex, multi-faceted Event that has been carefully planned by a multitude of public and private entities over a significant period,” Fisher said in his sworn declaration, submitted as part of an unsuccessful lawsuit that sought to stop the event.
Trump hosted the fight night, which coincided with his 80th birthday, as part of programming for America’s 250th anniversary. The president watched the matches from a cage-side seat on the South Lawn, sitting between first lady Melania Trump and UFC CEO Dana White.
Breakdown started early Monday with the removal of security provisions including pedestrian barriers and anti-scale fencing. Throughout the morning, according to a detailed UFC schedule provided in a court filing, merchandise trailers were set to depart; food and beverage operators were slated to start breaking down; and broadcast equipment was to be dismantled.
US Secret Service was also expected to begin breaking down the magnetometers and tenting around the security screening areas.
The process will continue Tuesday: Restrooms will be loaded out, camera towers will begin to be disassembled, and staging will start to come down. It continues throughout the week as interior fencing, power and tents, and bleachers get cleared. By Friday, the schedule suggests, stage load-out should be complete.
On the following Monday, dumpsters will be taken away and exterior fencing removal will be complete.
Everything will be clear by the end of June 23, when parking for White House staff (temporarily moved to Pennsylvania Avenue) will be reopened and “turf remediation” will get underway, according to the schedule.
UFC footed the roughly $60 million bill for all “production, labor, construction, and promotion costs,” while the federal government provided “emergency equipment and services, including first aid/medical services, law enforcement, and security,” Fisher said. It was not immediately clear what those services cost US taxpayers.
Coordination for the event took place at the highest levels of UFC and the federal government.
The load-in and build process, which began May 20, was a coordinated effort on a tight timeline with significant security constraints.
Every day, 20 to 30 trucks filled with UFC equipment such as staging infrastructure were screened before installation on White House grounds, Fisher said. The buildout required 700 to 900 subcontractors “with specialized knowledge associated with each element of the build.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
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