Fighters recall tense beach brawl in the rain as UFC White House card looms

The UFC’s June 14 event on the White House lawn will be the promotion’s first outdoor show on American soil, and fighters preparing to compete there are already thinking about what the elements might throw at them. Justin Gaethje, who faces Ilia Topuria, and Diego Lopes, who takes on Steve Garcia, have both fought outdoors before — though neither had to contend with a full-blown storm.

Not everyone has been so fortunate. In February 2010, Brazil’s Jungle Fight promotion moved its 17th event from a gymnasium in Vila Velha to a nearby beach on the night of the show, after organiser Wallid Ismail decided the improved weather made an outdoor setting too good to pass up.

“Since I’m a warrior and I want to make history, it will be the first MMA event ever held on a beach,” Ismail told veteran MMA reporter Marcelo Alonso at the time. “There are no great victories without great risks. It’s going to be historic.”

Ismail and his crew physically carried the event structure from the gymnasium to the beach. Fighters — among them Renan Barao, Erick Silva, and Rodrigo Damm, all of whom would later compete in the UFC — were told they would be fighting outside. Not everyone was happy about it.

Alonso, who covered the event, says political pressure played a significant role in the decision. “There was a 60 percent chance of rain that night,” he recalled. “Magno Malta was putting a lot of pressure on everyone because the event was sponsored by the city or state government, and having it on the beach would be great publicity for them. Wallid knew the risk, but the pressure was intense.”

Headliner Edson Franca said it took some convincing to get the full card to go ahead. “Erick Silva and I were the ones who got everyone fired up. Some fighters didn’t want to compete, but we pushed forward.”

Silva remembered the atmosphere in the locker room turning anxious when the rain arrived. “I remember the fighters being in the locker room when it started raining, and some of them said they weren’t going to fight in the rain. Wallid came in and talked to everyone: ‘We’re doing this. Let’s go out there and see what happens.’”

Marcelo Guimaraes went out first and won his bout. Barao followed with a decision victory in the second fight. Then the storm fully arrived.

UFC executive producer Craig Borsari has said contingency plans are in place for potential weather disruptions at the White House event, though the specifics of those plans have not been detailed publicly. Whether June 14 passes without incident remains to be seen — but those who lived through Jungle Fight 17 know exactly how quickly an outdoor MMA night can unravel.