Construction begins on UFC cage on the lawn of the White House

Construction of a UFC arena on the South Lawn of the White House is underway, ahead of the UFC Freedom 250 event next month.

The MMA event is being held to mark the 250th anniversary of American Independence and President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday.

The event is slated for 14 June and will feature two title bouts: a lightweight championship fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje and an interim heavyweight heavyweight match between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane.

There’s also five non-title fights, including a Bantamweight bout between Sean O’Malley and Aiemann Zahabi, a middleweight match between Bo Nickal and Kyle Daukaus, and a featherweight clash between Diego Lopes and Steve Garcia.

Construction has began on the UFC octagon outside the White House (Getty)

UFC previously released renderings which revealed the famous octagon-shaped cage sat on a red, white and blue stage, with a towering arch over the top.

Now that construction is officially underway, we’ve had our first glimpse of how it’ll look in real-life, and it’s fair to say it’s shaping up to be pretty impressive.

Trump recently claimed that the upcoming event will be the ‘biggest’ UFC has had with an ‘arena right outside the front door of the White House’.

UFC President Dana White has said the arena will have enough seating for more than 4,300 people.

White said earlier this month that Trump would be given 1,000 tickets to hand out, while both he and TKO Group CEO Ari Emanuel would have 200 each.

The rest will go to different branches of the military, White said.

Crews are also setting up a fan fest on the nearby Ellipse, where 85,000 tickets will be made available to the public for free.

(Getty)

"I have never seen anybody want anything so much as people want those tickets," Trump previously said.

For those who aren’t lucky enough to snap one up, the main events will be available to watch on TNT Sports with a subscription, while those wanting to catch the earlier fights will need a UFC Fight Pass.

When UFC Freedom 250 was first announced last year, it was met with some back lash from those who didn't think the White House was the appropriate place for an MMA match.

However, a spokesperson for the event has said it'll be one to tell the grandkids about some day.

“I can tell you that our team is working day and night to make America's 250th birthday a huge success and a renewal of patriotism, pride and love of country, and the pioneering of American spirit," Freeom 250's Julia Fiedland told WUSA9.

"It takes a lot of planning and a lot of effort, but it's all worth it so that we can have something to tell our kids and grandkids one day.”

According to the BBC, the event will cost UFC around $60m (£44.3m), and the company won’t profit from it.