Ahead of the controversial event held on the south lawn of the White House on Sunday (14 June) – the same day that US president Donald Trump celebrates his 80th birthday – UFC hosted a press conference in front of the Lincoln Memorial on Friday to promote the fights.
And social media isn’t happy.
Known as UFC Freedom 250, matches include the lightweight title bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje, and the heavyweight interim title bought between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane.
But when a clip was shared from the face-off between Topuria and Gaethje, with the former shoving the latter, X/Twitter users slammed the scenes as “trashy and disrespectful”:
Political commentator Jamie Bonkiewicz wrote: “They have turned the Lincoln Memorial into white f***ing trash”:
Protect Democracy writer and editor Amanda Carpenter said the scenes were “about as respectful to the Lincoln Memorial as you’d think this would be”:
“What an absolute joke of a country we are,” tweeted one account:
Another wrote: “What a display of disrespect in front of the Lincoln Memorial and steps from the Vietnam Memorial. This is a really s***ty look”:
And a fourth said: “This is insanely trashy to be doing in front of the Lincoln Memorial”:
Sunday’s fights will take place under a 92-foot-tall octagon-shaped stage, which will hold roughly 4,300 people, while members of the public will be able to stream it on Paramount+ from 8pm ET.
Locals can secure tickets to a watch party taking place on the nearby Ellipse.
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