Trump plans a 5,000-seat UFC cage adjacent to the White House to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary and his 80th birthday

(SeaPRwire) –   Another construction project is currently underway at the White House, though this one is designed to be temporary only.

Work crews are putting up an octagonal cage on the South Lawn that will host next month’s UFC fight, helping to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary — and President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday.

Online renderings show what the finished fight space, surrounded by wire mesh fencing, is expected to look like ahead of the June 14 event. It will be encircled by a red, white, and blue stage under a tall arch with stars and stripes patterns, plus two large screens broadcasting the action live.

Thousands of temporary seats will surround the cage and stage, including ringside space for a full marching band that can fill the area with loud music.

This project is part of a series of events celebrating the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence’s signing on July 4, 1776. Other planned activities include an IndyCar race that will pass by the White House and the Great American State Fair taking place on the National Mall.

Trump has stated that the completed UFC setup will feature “a 5,000-seat arena right outside the front door of the White House.” Additional large screens showing the fights will be set up in a park at the nearby Ellipse, and the UFC plans to distribute up to 85,000 free tickets to accommodate spectators at both locations.

“I have never seen anybody want anything so much as people want those tickets,” Trump said recently about the demand to attend the UFC fight, adding, “That’s gonna be something.”

The fight card has been panned by online fans as underwhelming, with just two championship bouts. Brazil’s Alex Pereira will face France’s Ciryl Gane for the interim UFC heavyweight title. Then Spanish-Georgian lightweight champion Ilia Topuria takes on interim champ Justin Gaethje, one of only two Americans currently holding any share of the UFC’s 11 championship belts.

The octagon and surrounding structures are the latest project in the White House building boom led by Trump.

The president’s other efforts to leave his mark include tearing up part of the Rose Garden to make room for a patio space reminiscent of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, affixing partisan plaques to the colonnade wall for a Presidential Walk of Fame, renovating the bathroom attached to the Lincoln Bedroom and the Palm Room, placing new flag poles on the north and south lawns, and demolishing the entire East Wing for a sprawling ballroom.

The president also wants to repaint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House and build a 250-foot arch at the nearby Lincoln Memorial — the same monument where weigh-ins for the upcoming UFC fight are scheduled to take place, according to bout organizers.