'Massive swarms of mosquitos' forecasted as Trump UFC fight faces near-biblical conditions

President Donald Trump's UFC spectacle on the White House South Lawn may have to contend with one thing his administration can't bully into submission: mosquitos.

According to a forecast from The Weather Channel, UFC Freedom 250 is walking into a near-biblical mess on Sunday. Forecasters put the chance of thunderstorms at 60 percent, with heavy downpours and wind gusts reaching up to 34 mph that could delay the outdoor bouts entirely.

The storms are only the start. The Weather Channel warned that brutal Washington humidity is shoving the heat index into triple digits, the kind of swampy misery the capital is famous for in mid-June. And then come the bugs. Forecasters said fighters will have to battle "massive swarms of mosquitos and gnats" inside the cage, turning the octagon into an open-air buffet.

If the rain, heat and insects sound like a checklist of ancient plagues, the lightning rules supply the final twist. The Weather Channel noted that the event's 92-foot overhang, the towering structure organizers have dubbed "the Claw," should at least keep the octagon dry. But a single lightning strike within eight miles will trigger an automatic 30-minute freeze on the whole event, meaning the fights could stall again and again as storms roll through.

The forecast caps a weekend Trump has hyped relentlessly, timed to his 80th birthday and billed as part of the nation's 250th anniversary. The cage match was elevated to the marquee attraction after musical performers bailed on the celebration earlier this month.

Whether the heavens cooperate is another question entirely. For a president who loves to control the cameras, the sight of fighters swatting gnats through a rain delay is probably not the spectacle he had in mind.