UFC Freedom 250 Producer Weighs In on Inclement Weather Procedures
Craig Borsari took to the podium at UFC Freedom 250 media day Wednesday and talked about alternate plans in the works due to a lightning delay.
UFC Freedom 250 is now four days away. For roughly the past year, fans of MMA throughout the world have been waiting for this weekend's card and wondering what it might look like. From earlier hopes that UFC Freedom 250 would feature "eight or nine championship fights," the schedule for the event features seven fights total.
Atypical of a UFC event, the show will be taking place outdoors on the south lawn of The White House in Washington, DC. Sunday's show, part of the Freedom 250 celebrations to commemorate the 250th birthday of the United States of America, falls on President Donald Trump's birthday.
Two title fights will highlight the show at The White House this coming weekend. In the main event, you'll see the battle for the UFC Lightweight Championship between Ilia Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) and Justin Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC,) right after the co-main event of the evening at heavyweight between Alex Pereira (13-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) and Ciryl Gane (13-2, 1 NC MMA, 10-2, 1 NC) for the latter's interim title.
Chance of Showers, Storms Could Harm UFC Freedom 250
Given the fact that UFC Freedom 250 will be taking place outdoors as opposed to a climate-controlled arena, the weather forecast will play a role as to what may or may not happen this weekend in Washington, DC. As of late Wednesday afternoon, The Weather Channel's forecast for Sunday in Washington, DC calls for afternoon highs at 90 degrees and a 50 percent probability of showers and thunderstorms.
The threat of thunderstorms is forecast to continue into the evening hours on the day of the fights. Much like in the daytime hours on Sunday, the probability of precipitation stands at 50 percent.
Craig Borsari serves as the promotion's Chief Content Officer and as executive producer on UFC telecasts and he'll be working UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday evening, as well. During Wednesday's media availability, he explained that he's going to be looking at the forecast with great frequency as the final days before UFC Freedom 250 occurs.
"We're now at a period of time where weather can get fairly predictable," Craig Borsari said at the podium. "When you're seven to 10 days out, you get a general sense of what's ahead of you, Starting with Friday, we have a pretty good idea of what we might be facing."
UFC Freedom 250 Catches Break with Primetime Start
While coverage of UFC Freedom 250 begins at 6 pm ET/ 3 pm PT on Paramount Plus inside the United States of America, the fights themselves will not commence until just past 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT. The June 14 sunset in Washington is slated for 8:35 pm local time.
Borsari mentioned that the fact that the event will happen in primetime will be helpful to all parties involved and that it should lessen the impact of heat on the cage mat and more elements that may play a role on fight night.
"We have plans to mitigate that, moisture and precipitation, wind," he continued. "Those are other things that we're planning for, but in terms of the actual canvas being warm, when you're out in the sun, particularly this time of year, it gets hot very quickly. We will keep it covered, we'll keep it cool."
What About a Lightning Delay at UFC Freedom 250?
Fans of outdoor sports whose seasons are played during the summer months know how quickly thunderstorms can fire up on a hot day and cause a delay of activities during the game. It's a prime reason why most NFL preseason games are scheduled to kick off during the evening hours, and it's also a concern for this year's FIFA World Cup, partly taking place in the United States of America.
Although UFC CEO Dana White has mentioned recently that UFC Freedom 250 will continue in the event of rain showers crossing the region, lightning in the area will signal a hard stop of the show, Craig Borsari said that he's got every alternate plan covered should inclement weather force a delay.
"It's a fine line of trying to think of every scenario that could pop up and thinking of two or three options that we can tap into that would allow us to get through various scenarios," he mentioned. "If it's weather, whether it be wind, lightning obviously presents a different set of challenges in terms of evacuating the south lawn, a little bit out of our hands. The contingency planning includes us finding broadcast positions within structures where we can continue to broadcast and continue to transmit the feed and report on what's going on."
