UFC White House invitees must meet military fitness standards to attend June 14 event

Military personnel holding invitations to the UFC’s White House event on June 14 must meet Department of Defense fitness standards to gain entry, according to a screenshot of an official invite circulating on social media.

The invite states that “ticket recipients are required to meet the DOD waist-to-height ratio standard of less than 0.55, as well as all service-specific physical fitness test requirements.” Tickets are also non-transferable and cannot be passed on to family members of invited personnel.

The UFC is staging the event — billed as UFC White House: Freedom 250 — at the South Lawn of the White House on June 14 to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence. The date also coincides with President Donald Trump’s birthday.

Approximately 4,300 special guests, drawn predominantly from the military, will watch the fights in person on the South Lawn. A further 85,000 free tickets have been made available for members of the general public to view the event on screens at the nearby Ellipse, as no public tickets exist for the South Lawn itself.

The fitness requirement adds an unusual layer of vetting to what is already a highly controlled guest list. The DOD waist-to-height ratio threshold of 0.55 is an established military readiness metric, though its application as a condition for attending a sporting event is without obvious precedent. The source of the requirement — whether it originated with the UFC, the White House, or the Department of Defense — has not been confirmed.