WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Cage-match fighting to fete President , a proud proponent of .
In the coming weeks, crews will erect a 6-foot (1.83 meter) wire-mesh fence shaped into an octagon on the lawn, where UFC fighters will use a combination of kickboxing, jiujitsu, wrestling and other martial arts in a June 14 show timed for Trump’s 80th birthday and as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The celebration of bloody, brute force dovetails with Trump鈥檚 gleefully combative charisma and extreme ideological masculinity 鈥� a brawling, no-holds-barred approach to the highest office in the land.
鈥淚 have respect for fighters, you know, when you can take 200 shots to the face and then look forward to the second round,鈥� Trump told podcaster Logan Paul as he campaigned for his second term.
Trump was the first sitting president to attend a UFC show, taking in a 2019 fight that was stopped because of a cut over the loser’s eye that .
To the uninitiated, the sport celebrates violence. It is wildly popular with young men.
鈥淎 lot of people don鈥檛 understand fighting and they think fighting is about anger. It鈥檚 not. If you鈥檙e angry when you fight, you鈥檒l lose,鈥� said veteran MMA referee and commentator .
鈥淔ighting is about technique and style, and understanding how to make your opponent make mistakes while you don鈥檛,” McCarthy said.
鈥淚 totally understand why he likes it,鈥� he added of Trump. 鈥淏ecause I do.鈥�
Friends with UFC and broadcast executives
It is hard to find a phrase more Trumpian than .
A committed devotee of hyperbole, Trump relishes grand descriptors that can elevate anything to its 鈥渦ltimate鈥� version. He also proudly fancies himself a fighter: 鈥淔ight! Fight! Fight!鈥� became his 2024 campaign mantra, one crystalized after an that summer.
Then there is 鈥渃hampionship,鈥� another thing close to the heart of a president who constantly professes love for winning and those who do it frequently.
All of that means Trump giving UFC 鈥渋s calculated. He knows what he’s doing,鈥� said Kyle Kusz, a University of Rhode Island professor who studies the connection between sports and the far right.
Trump 鈥渦ses UFC to portray himself as a manly sportsman,鈥� said Kusz, who said he sees parallels between the sport’s style of masculinity and Trump’s approach to policy and politics.
The league is planning to issue 85,000 free tickets for the event. Trump said UFC boss , a longtime friend, will build 鈥渁 5,000-seat arena right outside the front door of the White House鈥� and eight large screens in a nearby park for ticket-holders to watch from afar.
The show falls on a Sunday, deviating from UFC鈥檚 usual Saturday night time slot, and will be carried live on Paramount+, which is controlled by the Ellison family, also close allies of Trump. France even pushed back the Group of Seven summit it is hosting so as not to conflict with Trump鈥檚 birthday festivities.
Criticism of White House fight card
Trump has boasted that the event will feature 鈥渁ll top guys.鈥� But fans online have panned the card for lacking top talent such as former two-division champion Jon Jones, who requested his release from the UFC immediately after being excluded from the White House show. Also absent is MMA icon , whose first bout since 2021 would have been a seismic moment for the sport. The UFC’s White 鈥渒nows the White House card sucks,鈥� said former champion Ronda Rousey, who is mounting her own MMA comeback outside the UFC because she says the promotion would not meet her financial expectations.
Rousey, who is close to White, says the White House show 鈥渇ell extremely short of expectations.鈥�
While still being finalized, the card features two championship fights. Brazil鈥檚 Alex Periera will meet France鈥檚 for the interim UFC heavyweight title. Then Spanish-Georgian lightweight champion takes on interim champ , one of just two Americans who currently hold even a share of the UFC鈥檚 11 championship belts.
The White House did not answer questions about criticism of the card or the event’s aggressive politics. Instead, communications director Steven Cheung, said, 鈥淭his will be one of the greatest and most historic sports events in history.鈥�
Cheung, a UFC spokesman before joining Trump’s 2016 campaign, called Trump鈥檚 event “a testament to his vision to celebrate America鈥檚 monumental 250th anniversary.鈥�
A UFC spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump helped reinforce UFC’s mass appeal
Once famously derided as 鈥渉uman cockfighting鈥� by late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., UFC has been a major sports league in the United States since signing a media-rights deal with ESPN in 2018, said Patrick Wyman, a historian and host of popular podcasts on the subject who is also a former longtime MMA journalist.
Trump, a fixture at heavyweight boxing matches in the 1980s, gave UFC a boost a generation ago by hosting early bouts, including 2001鈥檚 鈥淏attle on the Boardwalk,鈥� at his casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Wyman said that even as Trump and White have remained close, UFC has deliberately prioritized building the league’s brand over that of its individual fighters. That has kept most stars from achieving crossover appeal.
As a result, Wyman said UFC remains most popular with men in their mid-40s to early 60s 鈥� a demographic already inclined to be Trump supporters.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a pretty perfect encapsulation of the way that Donald Trump thinks about politics,” Wyman said of the White House event, citing its 鈥渢ransactional nature鈥� and “how impossible it is to draw firm lines between business and politics.鈥�
In 2014, Trump invested in his own, short-lived MMA league. A decade later, his reelection campaign enhanced his UFC ties, who do not usually engage in traditional politics.
Two days after he was convicted on in June 2024, Trump went to a UFC bout in New Jersey, strolling out into the crowd with White while Kid Rock鈥檚 鈥淎merican Bad Ass鈥� blared. Trump’s campaign used footage of the raucous ovation to help .
Then, after his election victory, Trump with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and a large political entourage at a UFC fight in New York. He also attended UFC bouts in and last year.
Trump, who has built a large portion of his , is not unique among presidents to appeal to voters.
Republican George W. Bush zinging a pitch in from Yankee Stadium鈥檚 mound during the 2001 World Series is remembered as a moment of resilience after the Sept. 11 attacks. Republican Richard Nixon so publicly embraced his football fandom that aides worried it might alienate some voters, said Chris Cillizza, author of 鈥淧ower Players: Sports, Politics, and the American Presidency.”
Such worries are gone today, though, since sports 鈥渘ow tends to self-select by political affiliation,” he said.
鈥淚n an era where people feel like politicians are mostly weirdo aliens,” Cillizza said “sports 鈥� playing them, having knowledge about them 鈥� represents one of the best ways to prove to voters you are actually a human being.”
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Associated Press writers Greg Beacham in Los Angeles and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.
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