Dana White: UFC White House cost will be enormous

Dana White expects to see an enormous bill for UFC White House when it’s all said and done.

There is still much to be revealed about the historic June 14 event, which is expected to see the famous UFC octagon placed on the White House lawn and a lineup of the promotion’s biggest stars in action. As now, who those stars will be is still a mystery (White has said multiple times no fights have been made official yet), but that’s a secondary concern compared to the complicated logistics of the show that are in the process of being worked out.

The last time the UFC held an event at an unconventional venue was UFC 306 in September 2024, when fights were hosted at the Sphere in Las Vegas. That unique viewing experience provided several challenges for the production team, but White says that is nothing compared to what they’re facing with UFC White House.

“There’s a laundry list of challenges,” White told TNT Sports. “First of all, the South Lawn slopes like this, let’s start there. There’s only a certain amount of people you can get in. And then, Secret Service, I’ve been to the White House a million times and I get a lot of leeway at the White House. Everybody knows I’m not there to hurt anybody, so when we bring in 4,500 people that night plus all the production staff and everybody that has to be a part of the event—There’s two things: What the Sphere cost is like chump change that you throw in your ashtray compared to what this is going to cost, No. 1.

“And No. 2, logistically pulling this off is insane.”

As difficult as it will be to deliver a satisfying show for the VIPs in attendance, including President Donald Trump, White is confident that if everything goes according to plan, it will be the biggest accomplishment of his career.

“No doubt about it,” White said. “Sitting here right now, the Sphere is [the best thing the UFC has done]. Pulling this off makes the Sphere look like finger painting.”

White is currently doing the rounds for the UFC’s 2026 kickoff, which not only includes UFC 324 on Saturday in Las Vegas, but a second straight pay-per-view next weekend, UFC 325 in Sydney, Australia.

These cards mark the first numbered events of the Paramount era, with the corporation having signed the UFC to a $7.7 billion dollar broadcasting deal with UFC shows airing primarily on the Paramount+ streaming service.

So as much as White is feeling the pressure to keep the ship steady, even he admits they’re now playing with house money.

“We’re at a point now with this machine where we can do anything,” White said. “We can literally—I’m doing a boxing match tomorrow, Saturday we’re going to do a UFC event, which is going to pull an $11 million gate, and then we’re going to go to the other side of the world and do it again. And then all through ‘26, between, for me, boxing, UFC, Power Slap, and now jiu-jitsu, I’m running four different companies at the same time and all over the world and different times, different days, it’s going to be a hell of a year.”