WASHINGTON (AP) — Mark Schiefelbein has been based in Washington, D.C., with AP for about three years, and before that spent a decade in Beijing at AP’s China bureau.Here’s what he had to say about this extraordinary photo.Why this photo?This was an event that had never happened before in the 250-year history of the United States and may never happen again: a night of mixed martial-arts cage match brawls on the South Lawn of the White House, with bloodied competitors battling it out in front of the president, vice president, and other leaders of the country. AP had other photographers ringside at the event focusing more on the fights themselves. So I felt my role was to capture the context of the evening — the location, the people in attendance, the environment.How I made this photoA small group of other photographers and I, the White House press pool, had been allowed to photograph part of the evening from a position in the stands directly opposite the White House. I was carrying four cameras with a variety of lenses from 12 mm to 300 mm. This let me capture everything from ultra-wide views of the “claw” structure built for the fights, to close-ups of leaders and celebrities in attendance. I had been following Diego Lopes with my longest lens as he moved around the ring celebrating his win over Steve Garcia. When I saw him start to climb onto the cage, I immediately realized there might be a possibility of a picture like this and zoomed out to capture more of the scene.
On the South Lawn, a UFC fighter’s victory frames an unusual White House scene
AP photographer Mark Schiefelbein photographed Diego Lopes celebrating on the cage during a night of mixed martial-arts fights on the South Lawn of the White House. The image places the fighter, the ring and the White House in a single frame.
UFC hosts first-ever cage fights on White House South Lawn (June 14-15, 2026) with President Trump, first lady Melania, and national leaders as spectators. Event marks unprecedented use of federal presidential space for combat sports entertainment.















