Sean O’Malley says he accepted that UFC Freedom 250 would be an outdoor event when he signed the contract and is prepared to deal with whatever conditions come his way on June 14 at the White House.
O’Malley faces Aiemann Zahabi on the card and was asked by MMA Junkie about Joe Rogan’s concerns that the outdoor setting could affect championship-level bouts.
“It’s at the White House, so you gotta deal with whatever you gotta deal with. That would suck to lose because of a reason outside of your skillset. May the best man win. If something plays a role because it’s outside and it affects the fight somehow, that would suck. It’s unfortunate, but none of us signed the contract thinking it was inside, you know what I mean? We all know it’s outside. We all know what we’re getting into. Maybe not to an extent, we don’t know what all is gonna happen, but we all know it’s gonna be outside and we’re gonna have to possibly deal with stuff. We all signed it.”
Rogan recently said on his podcast that he does not believe championship fights should take place in uncontrolled outdoor environments, citing potential heat and bug issues. The Weather Channel currently projects nighttime temperatures in Washington, D.C., ranging from 67 to 85 degrees, with precipitation forecast unavailable at the time of writing. Thunderstorms are common in the area during the summer months.
Dana White has previously acknowledged that it had rained for eight consecutive days at the White House since his team began building the venue.