Get ready to rumble – at the White House. Less than 24 hours after announcing a $7.7 billion media rights deal with Paramount, Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White said a cage fight “is going to happen” on the White House lawn next July 4 – the 250th anniversary of when the United States declared independence from the United Kingdom.
The event would be the first cage match, or professional sporting event of any kind, hosted at the White House.
How will the UFC match at the White House come together?
White told “CBS This Morning” that he plans to visit President Donald Trump at the White House on Aug. 28 to discuss details of the plan, which will involve Trump’s daughter, Ivanka.
“When he called me and asked me to do it, he said, ‘I want Ivanka in the middle of this,’” White said. “So, Ivanka reached out to me, and her and I started talking about the possibilities where it would be, and I put together all the renderings. I’m flying out there at the end of the month and going to sit down with those two and start figuring it out.”
Why is the UFC having a fight at the White House?
Many recreational events and championship celebrations have been held at the White House over the years. Trump, a long-time friend and sometimes business partner of White’s said in July that he wanted to stage a UFC match on the White House grounds with upwards of 25,000 spectators to celebrate the nation’s 250th Independence Day.
The fight will be part of a festival of events in Washington during what the administration is billing as America 250.
“Every one of our national parks, battlefields and historic sites are going to have special events in honor of America 250. And we’re going to have a UFC fight,” Trump said. ″Think of this on the grounds of the White House, it will be a full fight.”
How will the new UFC/Paramount deal factor in?
The confirmation of the fight card, possibly on the South Lawn of the White House, comes less than 24 hours after the mixed martial arts company announced a seven-year streaming deal with Paramount worth $1.1 billion per year. The White House match will be one of at least four major events simulcast on CBS each year.
Paramount owns CBS and agreed in July to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit in which Trump claimed an interview in 2024 with then-Vice President Kamala Harris was deceptively edited. Three weeks later, the Trump administration approved Paramount’s $8 billion merger with Skydance Media.
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The White House includes recreational facilities such as a tennis court, swimming pool, bowling alley, a game room with billiard and ping-pong tables, a jogging track and a basketball court.
The deal with UFC marks the first significant move by the newly merged company, representing a significant shift for mixed martial arts, which has long been showcased on pay-per-view platforms.
“When you think of these streaming services, live sports is so important because you have to tune in and watch it when it happens,” White said. “And if you look at the moves they’re making right now, and the content that they have, they just locked up ‘South Park,’ they have ‘Yellowstone’, ‘MobLand’, which is a big hit, ‘Tulsa King,’ the list goes on and on. So, not only if you’re a UFC fan, do you get away from the pay-per-view model. Now, you just pay, $12 or $13 a month, whatever it is, and you get all this other programming.”
Have Trump and Dana White worked together before?
Trump has been cageside for several UFC fights, including an appearance immediately after he won a second term in the White House last November. He also appeared alongside White in July for two championship fights in New Jersey. Trump hosted and promoted several UFC events in the early days of the mixed martial arts company.
UFC has not named the fighters who will compete at the White House, but White said, “Everyone wants to be on this card.”
UFC legend Conor McGregor says he’s willing to come out of retirement for the event.
“I would be honoured!” he wrote on X last month. “Count me in!”
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Author: Chris Francis
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