President Barack Obama shoots hoops on the White House South Lawn basketball court in 2009. Photo: HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Theodore Roosevelt practiced jujitsu. Herbert Hoover inspired a new sport ("Hoover-Ball"). Athletic pursuits — common and niche — have long been a fixture at the White House.
Why it matters: Just like renovations to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, sports speak to trends du jour and the president's taste.
Zoom in: Trump's UFC cage fight is a first, but past presidents have added both permanent and pop-up courts, hoops and rinks to the White House grounds.
Flashback: A look at some White House athletics through the ages.
Photo: Getty Images
An ice rink was set up on the South Lawn for former Olympic star Peggy Fleming, who performed for former President Carter and guests at a holiday party in 1980.
Photo: Marion Carpenter/Bettmann via Getty Images
The original White House bowling alley was installed as a birthday gift to former President Harry Truman, aka "the Missouri Southpaw," in 1947.
Photo by Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images
The "Great American Workout" came to the South Lawn in 1992 to encourage fitness in school kids.
Photo by Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images
Former President George H.W. Bush installed a horseshoe pit on the South Lawn in 1989.