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\n The UFC will stage a mixed martial arts competition on the White House grounds in June to celebrate President Trump’s 80th birthday and America’s 250th anniversary. Workers will construct an octagonal cage on the lawn for the June 14 event, which will offer 85,000 free tickets to the public.\n <\/p>\n
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WASHINGTON \u2014 Mixed martial arts will make its debut at the White House this summer as the UFC prepares to host a fighting event on the presidential grounds to honor President Donald Trump\u2019s 80th birthday.<\/p>\n
Construction teams will build a six-foot wire-mesh octagonal cage on the White House lawn for the June 14 mixed martial arts competition, which coincides with the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary celebration. Fighters will showcase kickboxing, wrestling, jiujitsu and other combat sports during the unprecedented event.<\/p>\n
The spectacle aligns with Trump\u2019s confrontational political style and his admiration for combat sports. \u201cI have respect for fighters, you know, when you can take 200 shots to the face and then look forward to the second round,\u201d Trump told podcaster Logan Paul during his campaign.<\/p>\n
Trump made history as the first president in office to attend a UFC event, watching a 2019 match that ended early when a fighter\u2019s cut caused blood to stream down his face.<\/p>\n
While critics view the sport as promoting violence, it has gained massive popularity among younger male audiences. Veteran MMA referee \u201cBig John\u201d McCarthy defends the discipline, explaining that anger leads to defeat in the octagon.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people don\u2019t understand fighting and they think fighting is about anger. It\u2019s not. If you\u2019re angry when you fight, you\u2019ll lose,\u201d McCarthy explained. \u201cFighting is about technique and style, and understanding how to make your opponent make mistakes while you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCarthy added about Trump: \u201cI totally understand why he likes it. Because I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ultimate Fighting Championship name itself reflects Trump\u2019s preference for superlatives and his \u201cFight! Fight! Fight!\u201d campaign slogan that emerged after the summer assassination attempt.<\/p>\n
Kyle Kusz, a University of Rhode Island professor studying connections between sports and political movements, believes Trump\u2019s UFC platform is strategic. He argues Trump \u201cuses UFC to portray himself as a manly sportsman\u201d and sees similarities between the sport\u2019s masculine culture and Trump\u2019s governing approach.<\/p>\n
The organization plans to distribute 85,000 complimentary tickets for the occasion. Trump announced that UFC president Dana White, a longtime ally, will construct \u201ca 5,000-seat arena right outside the front door of the White House\u201d plus eight jumbo screens in a nearby park for overflow crowds.<\/p>\n
Breaking from UFC\u2019s traditional Saturday schedule, the Sunday event will stream live on Paramount+, owned by the Ellison family who maintain close Trump ties. France even rescheduled its Group of Seven summit to avoid conflicting with Trump\u2019s birthday celebration.<\/p>\n
Despite Trump\u2019s promise of \u201call top guys,\u201d fight enthusiasts have criticized the lineup for missing major stars. Former two-division champion Jon Jones demanded his UFC release after being excluded from the White House card. MMA superstar Conor McGregor, whose return would have created massive buzz, is also absent.<\/p>\n
Former champion Ronda Rousey, who left UFC over financial disputes, called the White House show disappointing. \u201cThe White House card sucks,\u201d she said, adding it \u201cfell extremely short of expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The preliminary card includes two title matches. Brazil\u2019s Alex Periera faces France\u2019s Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight championship, while Spanish-Georgian lightweight titleholder Ilia Topuria battles interim champion Justin Gaethje, one of only two Americans holding UFC gold.<\/p>\n
White House communications director Steven Cheung dismissed criticism, declaring: \u201cThis will be one of the greatest and most historic sports events in history.\u201d Cheung, who worked as a UFC spokesman before joining Trump\u2019s 2016 campaign, called the event \u201ca testament to his vision to celebrate America\u2019s monumental 250th anniversary.\u201d<\/p>\n
The late Senator John McCain once condemned UFC as \u201chuman cockfighting,\u201d but the organization became a mainstream sports league after securing an ESPN media deal in 2018, according to historian and former MMA journalist Patrick Wyman.<\/p>\n
Trump supported UFC\u2019s early growth by hosting events at his Atlantic City casino, including 2001\u2019s \u201cBattle on the Boardwalk.\u201d However, Wyman notes the organization has focused on building its brand rather than individual fighter stardom, limiting crossover appeal.<\/p>\n
This strategy means UFC\u2019s core audience remains men aged mid-40s to early 60s, a demographic that already favors Trump. \u201cI think it\u2019s a pretty perfect encapsulation of the way that Donald Trump thinks about politics,\u201d Wyman said, citing the event\u2019s \u201ctransactional nature\u201d and blurred lines \u201cbetween business and politics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump launched his own short-lived MMA promotion in 2014 and strengthened UFC connections during his reelection campaign to reach politically disengaged voters. Two days after his 34-count felony conviction in June 2024, Trump attended a New Jersey UFC event with White while Kid Rock\u2019s \u201cAmerican Bad Ass\u201d played, using crowd footage to launch his TikTok presence.<\/p>\n
Following his election victory, Trump appeared at UFC events in New York with House Speaker Mike Johnson and large political delegations, plus additional fights in Newark and Miami.<\/p>\n
Presidential sports engagement isn\u2019t new. George W. Bush\u2019s ceremonial pitch at Yankee Stadium during the 2001 World Series symbolized post-9\/11 resilience, while Richard Nixon\u2019s football enthusiasm concerned aides about voter alienation, notes Chris Cillizza, author of \u201cPower Players: Sports, Politics, and the American Presidency.\u201d<\/p>\n
Modern politics has eliminated such concerns since sports \u201cnow tends to self-select by political affiliation,\u201d Cillizza observed. \u201cIn an era where people feel like politicians are mostly weirdo aliens, sports \u2014 playing them, having knowledge about them \u2014 represents one of the best ways to prove to voters you are actually a human being.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UFC will stage a mixed martial arts competition on the White House grounds in June to celebrate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[249026,249027,64,63,786,249020,249028,249022,249023,249021,249024,785,85,249025],"class_list":["post-570385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-102-3","tag-102-3fm","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-fine-day","tag-fine-day-102-3","tag-fine-day-fm","tag-fine-day-media","tag-fine-day-radio","tag-have-a-fine-day","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-weller-radio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}