The Pentagon is looking to recruit service members who are UFC fans who meet height and weight standards to attend next month’s bout hosted by President Donald Trump on the White House grounds.Officials are looking for junior enlisted personnel and junior officers specifically to attend the mixed martial arts fights billed as UFC Freedom 250, the Washington Post first reported on Friday. One memo circulated by the Air Force and posted online said there were available tickets for “genuine UFC fans, not solely to high-ranking DVs,” a reference to distinguished visitors. It also noted that ticket recipients “are required to meet the [Waist-to-Height Ratio] of less than 0.55, as well as all service-specific physical fitness test requirements.”
Service members who are given tickets to the event will have to cover their own travel costs, the memo said.
Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman, told the Washington Examiner, “This will be one of the greatest and most historic sports events in history, and President Trump hosting it at the White House is a testament to his vision to celebrate America’s monumental 250th anniversary.”
The Pentagon declined to comment.
The event will be held on Trump’s 80th birthday. The president has long expressed a love for the sport and has attended previous fights. Last year on his birthday, he led a U.S. Army military parade in Washington, D.C., which also coincided with the anniversary of the founding of the service.
