US President Donald Trump gestures as he attends UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 15, 2026.
US President Donald Trump celebrated his 80th birthday with a brutal display of political machismo Sunday, turning White House lawn into an arena for a bloody evening of cage fights.
In unprecedented scenes in the revered seat of American democracy, Trump sat with thousands of cheering fans as Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) combatants beat each other to a pulp.
Fighters for the evening's top-billed bout emerged from the Oval Office, where just hours earlier Trump had sealed a long-awaited peace deal with Iran, to walk out to the cage.
US fighter Justin Gaethje stunned Spanish-Georgian Ilia Topuria to take the lightweight championship in the main event. Gaethje was declared the winner after Topuria's face was so badly beaten that he could not continue.
