With the passing of bear-baiting and other blood sports, at some moment, bare-knuckle fighting became more institutionalized. For a moment, gloves became important to protect fighters and focus on the actual sport rather than the brutality, maiming, and occasional fatality.

Mixed Martial Arts emerged to represent another attempt to make a fighting spectacle that appealed to non-traditional boxing audiences more akin to brawling. It’s a Proud Boy sport with Fight Club rules.

Trump became wedded to Ultimate Fighting Championship as his WWE connection was as tarnished as his membership in the latter’s Hall of Fame, and his adopting kayfabe as his leadership style. Former pro wrestler and Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura claims that Trump bought his Hall of Fame place.

Trump’s ‘acting’ in WWE matches was usually part of the sideshow antics of non-wrestler functionaries. Ultimate Fighting Championship attempts to make its television presence more respectable than the choreographed WWE fakery that now has been made more respectable by ESPN.

Attribution: ASSOCIATED PRESS

To the casual audience member, Andrew Tate, Markwayne Mullin, and Conor McGregor are the only memorable MMA celebrities, with varying degrees of machismo and misogyny, including Mullin’s posturing for a punchout in a Senate hearing with a union leader.

As gauche as the additional oversize flag poles and the garish decor of Trump’s amateur decorating, perhaps the UFC structure should remain to become the framing for the new White House ballroom replete with anti-drone netting.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has released its latest rendering of the octagonal cage that officials are building at the White House for a fight scheduled on President Trump’s 80th birthday.

It depicts a star-spangled arch over the cage on the White House South Lawn along with seating for thousands.

Construction for the fight on June 14, which is one of several major events planned around the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, is already underway at the White House. Mr. Trump is also planning a temporary IndyCar street circuit racing past landmarks including the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol that will take place in August.

Last week, Mr. Trump said the tickets for the U.F.C. event were in high demand.

“I have never seen anybody want anything so much as people want those tickets,” he said. “It’s a one of a kind U.F.C.”

Mr. Trump said the temporary arena would hold more than 4,000 people. He said the White House Ellipse grounds would host a U.F.C. Freedom 250 Fan Fest, where 75,000 to 100,000 people could watch the fights for free.

Weigh-ins will take place at Lincoln Memorial, officials have said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/26/us/politics/ufc-fight-trump-white-house.html

UFC is to Olympic martial arts as pickleball is the pathetic cousin to the well-established platform tennis. And much like the best way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the nation is to have a near bare-knuckle brawl in the octagon at the White House and its weigh-in at the Lincoln Memorial. Because isn’t that what the Founders would have wanted?

Double jeopardy won’t apply when the Capitol is besieged again in 2029, likely on January 6, with JD Vance, unlike Mike Pence, sending electoral college ballots back to the states. More pugilism.

We’ll get straight to the point: The financial hardships that Daily Kos is facing this year are tough.

We continue to be paywall-free. We continue to be supported by our readers, not billionaires or corporations. But we need to bring in more revenue. We are leaning on our community more than ever to help make ends meet.

Power matters.