For most of its 250-year history, the White House South Lawn has hosted state dinners, diplomatic events, Easter egg rolls, turkey pardons and polished shows of presidential authority.

On Sunday night the grounds instead featured cage fights.

Under a large steel structure called the Claw, with military planes flying overhead and thousands of fans filling the South Lawn and nearby Ellipse, Donald Trump marked his 80th birthday and the coming 250th anniversary of American independence by holding the first pro sporting event at the White House.

The night also overcame one of the main worries of the day. Weather reports had predicted thunderstorms that might interrupt the outdoor card, leading organizers to push the start back by an hour. Yet no rain reached the grounds at all.

The show wrapped just after 1am on Monday with one of the notable upsets in UFC history when Justin Gaethje recovered from several dangerous situations to halt the previously unbeaten Ilia Topuria after four hard rounds and take the undisputed lightweight title.

“I’m from America,” Gaethje said afterward. “Two hundred and fifty years ago, we were far bigger than six-to-one underdogs, and look at this country now.”

It was a suitable finish to an evening that often felt more like a show of American strength than a standard sporting occasion.

Trump and UFC chief executive Dana White stepped from the White House at dusk to a military color guard and an uncommon joint flyover by the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds. Later, a B-1 bomber roared above the South Lawn. A recruitment spot from the newly renamed Department of War ran during the broadcast. Chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” filled the temporary stands all evening.

The guest list showed the unusual mix of politics, technology and combat sports. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg sat near the Winklevoss twins, while cabinet members, foreign officials and political supporters moved through the ringside area during the night.

Yet while the event aimed to celebrate American power and exceptionalism, it also slipped into coarser territory at times. The clearest case came after prospect Josh Hokit defeated Derrick Lewis in the second round of their heavyweight matchup. After leaving the cage to hand Trump a necklace at ringside, Hokit gave a long post-fight interview that moved from praise for the president to religion before ending with the false claim that “Michelle Obama is a man.”

The comment, one of the oldest smears aimed at the former first lady, drew cheers from parts of the crowd and puzzled looks from others. Even on a night that had already mixed civic ceremony, political rally and pay-per-view action, Hokit managed to drop the tone further.

Hokit’s remarks were not the only political notes of the evening. When former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley met Canada’s Aiemann Zahabi, the fight carried extra nationalistic energy. Trump wore a white “USA” hat at cageside while chants of “U-S-A!” rose from sections of the crowd. At points fans yelled “Canada is the 51st state!” – repeating Trump’s earlier comments about annexing the northern neighbor – while others called for O’Malley to “eat” his opponent.

The crowd cheered when O’Malley stopped Zahabi by second-round TKO, marking the first win by an American over a foreign-born fighter on the card. Before exiting the cage, O’Malley thanked the fans on the Ellipse and praised White.

“Dana’s a fucking gangster,” he said.

The fights rarely lacked action. Every bout on the seven-fight card finished by knockout or technical knockout, the first time this has occurred in the UFC’s 33-year history. Ciryl Gane halted Alex Pereira to claim the interim heavyweight title, while Hokit, O’Malley and Bo Nickal all produced strong wins in front of the president. Still, the night belonged to Gaethje.

The 37-year-old American came in as a heavy underdog against Topuria, the unbeaten Georgian-Spanish champion widely viewed as the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighter. Topuria looked in charge early and repeatedly hurt Gaethje with body shots and combinations. The second round closed with Topuria pressing Gaethje against the cage right in front of Trump, appearing fully in control. Yet the American survived the pressure.

By the third round, Topuria’s face was swollen and bloodied. By the fourth, the champion struggled to see clearly. After a ringside doctor checked him between rounds, Topuria’s corner stopped the fight before the fifth.

“That guy had me in trouble,” Gaethje said. “He had me rocked. He smoked my liver. But I stuck in it.”

The win completed a long career goal of capturing the undisputed lightweight championship and gave the home crowd an American victor in the main event.

As fireworks lit up above the White House to John Philip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever past 1am on Monday morning, Trump entered the cage to congratulate Gaethje and greet his mother. The evening closed as it had opened: with a display of patriotic pageantry on a scale rarely seen in American sports.