UFC chief Dana White has dismissed wild conspiracy theories claiming secret military weather technology was used to divert a storm from the White House.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship took over the South Lawn in Washington D.C. on June 14 for UFC Freedom 250. President Donald Trump performed his own walkout from the Oval Office before taking his seat cageside as part of his America 250 celebrations.
For large parts of the evening, bad weather threatened to ruin the outdoor spectacle. Rain fell near Washington D.C., but the storm unexpectedly avoided the venue, sparking wild conspiracy theories on Reddit and across social media suggesting secret tactics were deployed to safeguard the event.
Weather Control Conspiracy Allegations
Confronted with suggestions that military technology altered the weather, White laughed off the claims in an interview with TMZ. "Of course they do," White said regarding online conspiracy theorists.
White pointed to his friend Skipper Kelp, who handles scoring for Zuffa Boxing, as an example of people who buy into such rumors. "One of my longtime friends, his name is Skipper Kelp, he does the scoring on Zuffa Boxing for us," White said. "The biggest conspiracy theorist I've ever met in my life. Every night when we go to dinner I have to listen to this crazy s*** that he comes up with, so I'm sure Skip probably believes that we used some secret military stuff to break up the storm."
White promised that no military weather technology was deployed, noting that organizers and President Trump both expected the storm to hit the South Lawn.
"I can promise you that did not happen. We thought it was hitting us. The president thought it was hitting us," White told TMZ. "We weren't using like the Channel 4 weather guy, right? We had military meteorologists all over this thing and this [meteorologist] was telling us we're going to get hit."
White acknowledged how easily such claims spread after a close call. "I get how these things happen and how they start, right? There was absolutely no military, you know, right? We thought we were getting hit," he said.
Fight Results and Career Highlight
The landmark fight card concluded with Justin Gaethje defeating Ilia Topuria for the UFC lightweight championship. In the co-main event, Ciryl Gane knocked out Alex Pereira to claim the interim heavyweight championship.
White insisted that the White House event remains the highlight of his career leading the UFC, noting how the near-miss with the storm added to the night's drama.
"There's no doubt about it," White said. "It was such an incredible night, and the way that the story played out with the storm breaking and going around the White House. Obviously my relationship with the President.., the amount of people that showed up, the highlights from the thing, America's 250th birthday. Nothing's going to beat that."
