President Donald Trump is hosting a UFC fight on White House grounds to celebrate his 80th birthday and the nation’s 250th anniversary. Trump has long supported UFC and during his 2024 campaign, he used those ties to attract voters who weren't traditionally politically engaged.
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NASA astronaut says his medical scare remains a mysteryViral phenomenon in Argentina has young people identifying themselves as animalsOtters enjoy a snow day in Maryland during winter stormWorries about flying seem to be taking off. Here's how to cope with in-flight anxietyA photo captures black spots on clothespins that reveal the environmental toll of conflict in TehranUganda reintroduces rhinos into a protected area where they have been extinct since 1983Dietary supplement makers push the FDA to allow peptides and other new ingredientsAs demand for GLP-1 pills and shots surges, healthy habits are still keyOne Tech Tip: Here's how AI can help you in your job huntThe future of fish is looking a lot like meatIndustria del cangrejo de río de Luisiana sufre por escasez de trabajadores extranjerosPoliticsThe White House is trading policy battles for actual fighting as President Donald Trump prepares to mark his 80th birthday with cage-matches on the lawn. In coming weeks, crews will erect a 6-foot wire-mesh fence shaped into an octagon on the lawn.People hold a flag as President-elect Donald Trump arrives at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden, Nov. 16, 2024, in New York. President-elect Donald Trump talks to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., at a UFC 309 mixed martial arts flyweight title bout, Nov. 16, 2024, in New York. Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump talks with UFC CEO Dana White at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. President Donald Trump attends the UFC-316 mixed martial arts event, at the Prudential Center, June 7, 2025, in Newark, N.J., as UFC’s Dana White, left, looks on. President Donald Trump congratulates Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili, after he won his bantamweight title bout against Sean O’Malley, during the UFC-316 mixed martial arts event, at the Prudential Center, June 7, 2025, in Newark, N.J. The White House is trading policy battles for actual fighting as President Donald Trump prepares to mark his 80th birthday with cage-matches on the lawn. In coming weeks, crews will erect a 6-foot wire-mesh fence shaped into an octagon on the lawn.People hold a flag as President-elect Donald Trump arrives at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden, Nov. 16, 2024, in New York. People hold a flag as President-elect Donald Trump arrives at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden, Nov. 16, 2024, in New York. President-elect Donald Trump talks to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., at a UFC 309 mixed martial arts flyweight title bout, Nov. 16, 2024, in New York. President-elect Donald Trump talks to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., at a UFC 309 mixed martial arts flyweight title bout, Nov. 16, 2024, in New York. Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump talks with UFC CEO Dana White at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump talks with UFC CEO Dana White at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. President Donald Trump attends the UFC-316 mixed martial arts event, at the Prudential Center, June 7, 2025, in Newark, N.J., as UFC’s Dana White, left, looks on. President Donald Trump attends the UFC-316 mixed martial arts event, at the Prudential Center, June 7, 2025, in Newark, N.J., as UFC’s Dana White, left, looks on. President Donald Trump congratulates Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili, after he won his bantamweight title bout against Sean O’Malley, during the UFC-316 mixed martial arts event, at the Prudential Center, June 7, 2025, in Newark, N.J. President Donald Trump congratulates Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili, after he won his bantamweight title bout against Sean O’Malley, during the UFC-316 mixed martial arts event, at the Prudential Center, June 7, 2025, in Newark, N.J. In the coming weeks, crews will erect a 6-foot 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 14The celebration of bloody, brute force dovetails with Trump’s gleefully combative charisma and extreme ideological masculinity — a brawling, no-holds-barred approach to the highest office in the land. “I have respect for fighters, you know, when you can take 200 shots to the face and then look forward to the second round,” 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“A lot of people don’t understand fighting and they think fighting is about anger. It’s not. If you’re angry when you fight, you’ll lose,” said veteran MMA referee and commentator “Fighting is about technique and style, and understanding how to make your opponent make mistakes while you don’t,” McCarthy said.A committed devotee of hyperbole, Trump relishes grand descriptors that can elevate anything to its “ultimate” version. He also proudly fancies himself a fighter: “Fight! Fight! Fight!” became his 2024 campaign mantra, one crystalized after an Then there is “championship,” another thing close to the heart of a president who constantly professes love for winning and those who do it frequently.“is calculated. He knows what he’s doing,” said Kyle Kusz, a University of Rhode Island professor who studies the connection between sports and the far right. Trump “uses UFC to portray himself as a manly sportsman,” said Kusz, who said he sees parallels between the sport’s style of masculinity and Trump’s approach to policy and politics., a longtime friend, will build “a 5,000-seat arena right outside the front door of the White House” and eight large screens in a nearby park for ticket-holders to watch from afar. The show falls on a Sunday, deviating from UFC’s 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’s birthday festivities.Trump has boasted that the event will feature “all top guys.” 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 “knows the White House card sucks,” 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.Ciryl GaneThe White House did not answer questions about criticism of the card or the event’s aggressive politics. Instead, communications director Steven Cheung, said, “This will be one of the greatest and most historic sports events in history.” Cheung, a UFC spokesman before joining Trump’s 2016 campaign, called Trump’s event “a testament to his vision to celebrate America’s monumental 250th anniversary.”Trump helped reinforce UFC’s mass appeal Once famously derided as “human cockfighting” 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’s “Battle on the Boardwalk,” 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 — a demographic already inclined to be Trump supporters. “I think it’s a pretty perfect encapsulation of the way that Donald Trump thinks about politics,” Wyman said of the White House event, citing its “transactional nature” and “how impossible it is to draw firm lines between business and politics.” In 2014, Trump invested in his own, short-lived MMA league. A decade later, his reelection campaign enhanced his UFC ties,in June 2024, Trump went to a UFC bout in New Jersey, strolling out into the crowd with White while Kid Rock’s “American Bad Ass” blared. Trump’s campaign used footage of the raucous ovation to helpwith House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and a large political entourage at a UFC fight in New York. He also attended UFC bouts in Republican George W. Bush zinging a pitch in from Yankee Stadium’s 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 “Power Players: Sports, Politics, and the American Presidency.” Such worries are gone today, though, since sports “now tends to self-select by political affiliation,” he said. “In an era where people feel like politicians are mostly weirdo aliens,” Cillizza said “sports — playing them, having knowledge about them — represents one of the best ways to prove to voters you are actually a human being.”
Donald Trump Steven Cheung Mixed Martial Arts General News AP Top News DC Wire District Of Columbia John Mccain Ilia Topuria Mike Johnson Politics Washington News Alex Periera Sports Logan Paul Richard Nixon Conor Mcgregor Jon Jones Chris Cillizza Patrick Wyman Justin Gaethje George W. Bush
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