UFC breaks its own rule minutes into White House card with rare move

UFC broke one of its strictest rules by making a significant change for the stacked White House card.

The UFC Freedom 250 event takes place on the South Lawn of the White House, celebrating 250 years of independence for the United States.

Around 4,000 people attended the spectacle, including invitees from President Donald Trump, UFC president Dana White, TKO and members of the military.

The card, one of the biggest in UFC history, will see a total of seven fights - including the lightweight title main event between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje.

UFC have spent around $60 million on the show, including splashing out on a giant 'Claw' structure which has been installed over the Octagon and forking out on record performance-related bonuses.

The open-air show, which takes place on Trump's 80th birthday, had a completely different feel to it.

And that included what happened at the very start of the broadcast, with the national anthem being sung to mark the momentous occasion.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" has not been performed at a UFC show for a long time, only happening on rare occasions such as UFC 33 following on from the 9/11 terror attacks in New York City.

White has never been in favour of the anthem being part of the pre-show traditions as he deems UFC to be an international company.

However, he confirmed a few months back that was forced to make an exception for the huge White House card.

"We don't do the National Anthem," White said, as per MMA News.

"So one of the things that drives me crazy about boxing is they have to sing two National Anthems and all the stuff before the fight starts. We're an international business, we have people from everywhere.

"We could end up singing two National Anthems that are not even from this country and the whole world is watching us, we're in over a billion homes worldwide, so I don't do it.

"This will be the first time in a very long time since UFC double digits that we've done the National Anthem."

Country music singer Zac Brown was the man selected to perform the anthem, taking to the stage before the fights alongside the United States Marine Band.

He and his band also performed at the UFC Freedom 250 Fan Festival on Saturday, building up to the big one on Sunday evening in Washington, D.C.

UFC makes huge bonus decision for White House card

All 14 fighters are entitled to a $1 million in post-fight bonuses with sponsor Crypto.com, who are celebrating their 10-year anniversary.

The fee is being paid out in CRO, the native cryptocurrency of the Cronos ecosystem and is worth around 14.4 million.

They confirmed it would be awarded to "selected" fighters and White said the partner would be "giving fighters the biggest bonus in UFC history".

On top of that, White then confirmed the overall bonus pool stands at $1.65 million and would see the two winners of Performance of the Night collect a massive $425,000.

In addition, the fighters involved in Fight of the Night will each net $400,000 - more than triple the current UFC bonus fee.