Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley has weighed in on Joe Rogan’s recent apprehensions regarding the planned UFC event at the White House. Rogan, a long-time UFC commentator, has expressed a preference for the promotion to construct an air-conditioned arena instead of hosting fights outdoors on the White House’s South Lawn.
During his podcast, Rogan highlighted the strong likelihood of extreme heat on June 14, which could lead to dehydration for fighters on the UFC Freedom 250 card. He also raised concerns about insects, though UFC President Dana White has indicated that measures will be taken to address this issue with the use of fans.
The main and co-main events for the UFC White House card are championship bouts, and Rogan believes that title fights should only occur in a controlled environment.
Sean O’Malley’s Perspective on the White House Card
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Sean O’Malley, who is scheduled to fight Aiemann Zahabi on June 14, addressed Joe Rogan’s reservations about the outdoor event. O’Malley acknowledged that extreme heat could potentially influence a fight’s outcome. However, he pointed out that all fighters on the card, including his Canadian opponent who may not be accustomed to hot weather, were aware of the challenges associated with competing outdoors before signing their contracts. Therefore, he believes it is a matter of accepting the conditions.
O’Malley stated, “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 skill set.” He added, “May the best man win and if something plays a role because it’s outside and it affects the fight somehow, that would suck, it is 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… We are gonna have to adapt to it if it is messed up weather.”
