UFC Freedom 250 needed extraordinary security planning before it became a reality.
The FBI even busted a drone terror plot before the White House event, underlining the scale of the risk.
Donald Trump, however, did not sound especially worried when Joe Rogan raised the darkest possibility.
Joe Rogan opens up on Donald Trump’s reaction to ‘terrorist attack’ claim
Speaking on Saturday’s episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” with Justin Gaethje and Trevor Wittman, Rogan recalled what he said to Trump before the event started.
The comedian revealed: “I said to Trump, ‘I hope we don’t die in a terrorist attack.’ He goes, ‘We gotta go somehow.’ I go, ‘What the f—, dude?’”
The line captured Trump’s public image in one moment. Rogan was surprised by the comment, but also clearly found the reply darkly funny.
It also underlined how unusual the event was. UFC had staged major cards before, but a White House lawn setting brought a completely different security context.
UFC Freedom 250 numbers show huge interest but miss one target
The risks behind UFC Freedom 250 were obviously tied to the expectation for major numbers once the fights began.
The card averaged 8.2 million viewers across the United States and Latin America, with data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.
The broadcast also reached a 17 million peak, making it the most-watched UFC event ever and Paramount+’s largest exclusive live event.
Still, the first reported numbers did not match Dana White’s Super Bowl-level ambition.
After the latest UFC card, headlined by Manel Kape and Kyoji Horiguchi, the promotion boss said there are massive numbers to emerge about the White House card.
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