White House celebrates anniversary with mixed martial arts fight

US President Donald Trump marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and his birthday with the Freedom 250 celebrations that see unprecedented mixed martial arts fights take over the White House South Lawn.

Crowds cheering to fighter jets zipping overhead as part of a flyover  kicking off celebration of US President Donald Trump's 80th birthday and the 250th anniversary of the founding of America.

Ahead of the seven UFC mixed martial arts fights, Trump is seen walking from the Oval Office to the Blue Room Balcony with UFC CEO and President Dana White where they stand for the National anthem.

The two head to their front seats moments before the spectacle kicks off.

The highlight event sees UFC fighters Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria go head-to-head in a Lightweight Title Unification fight.

American fighter Gaethje wins the match 6-1 against his European opponent.

The fights have been clouded by controversy and a literal storm which had been brewing in the capital over the weekend, stirring rumours the show might be cancelled.

Earlier, two Virginia citizens filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in an attempt to halt the construction of the wire fight cage.

But the UFC President had said it would go on no matter the weather and called it "one of the greatest fights" afterwards.

"The storm literally went like this and split and went around the White House. And the breeze was perfect. You couldn't have had a better night. It was absolutely perfect. The production was off the charts. I mean, if you look at what we did, we built an arena on the White House lawn. That was amazing," says White.