President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated UFC fighting event on the White House South Lawn appears more vulnerable to Washington, D.C.’s swampy summer weather and insect population than to any legal challenge.A federal judge yesterday declined to block the event, rejecting a lawsuit brought by two Virginia residents just days before the fight.Instead, organizers are keeping a close eye on the forecast. UFC President Dana White recently told The Hollywood Reporter that the biggest threats to the outdoor spectacle are “rain, lightning and a ton of bugs.”
The insects, at least, are virtually guaranteed.
“This event is going to draw a big crowd,” University of Maryland entomologist Michael Raupp told Axios. “But guess what? There are going to be even more bugs joining.”
Raupp said attendees can expect swarms of midges, mayflies emerging from the Potomac River, stoneflies, caddisflies, winged beetles, and “a whole cadre of night-flying moths.” Washington’s usual summer pests will also make an appearance, including mosquitoes, which Raupp noted are more attracted to sweaty spectators than bright lights, as well as black flies and even bats feeding on the abundance of insects.
“If you have this banquet of small flying insects,” Raupp said, “the bats are going to say, ‘Oh, baby!’”
