The UFC’s Political Pivot: A New Era of Branding Inside the Octagon
The event on the lawn of the White House, now bearing the official name UFC Freedom 250, has been the talk of the MMA world for almost a year now. It was hyped up to be the card to end all cards. UFC president Dana White originally claimed there would be nine title fights on the card, and there was speculation that superfights like Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev would be at the top of the card. A week ago, the fights were announced, and they were, well, underwhelming. Alex Pereira moving to heavyweight and fighting for an interim belt is exciting, as is a fight between Topuria and perennial divisional elite Justin ‘The Highlight’ Gaethje, but when fans hear buzz of nine title fights, they feel let down when they receive a good but unremarkable card. UFC 300, which took place less than two years ago, easily had more entertaining matchups than Freedom 250.
Even still, most fans are excited at the prospect of a fight at the White House. Perhaps it fulfills a primal part of the human brain that loves to mix one exciting thing with another. What if we took this strawberry and covered it with chocolate? What if we took this car and put a radio in it? What if we had UFC fights on the lawn of the White House? It’s novel and interesting, but when you think about it, it’s horrifying, and emblematic of the completion of a shift towards the UFC’s association with republican politics.
I was in the stands at UFC 295 in Madison Square Garden. For a split second, when I saw Donald Trump’s face appear on the Jumbotron, I thought he was about to get booed out of the arena. One of the most vitriolic presidents in history, who verbally dragged the city of NY in the mud, who was outspoken in his desire to take the country back from the Democrats and liberals he believed had destroyed it, surely wouldn’t get a warm welcome in New York City of all places. There arguably isn’t a place in the country where one would expect him to get less support, and yet the place erupted in cheers. Flanked by a team of Republican celebrities, including Tucker Carlson, Kid Rock, and Dana White himself, Donald Trump came out of the tunnel and was showered in cheers. I was shocked. That was when I began to notice that the UFC had shifted into the sphere of Republican politics, but it didn’t stop there.
Over the next couple of years, the UFC strengthened ties with Trump. He attended numerous events, and Dana White endorsed his second bid for the presidency. After he won, UFC fighters, one of them being Gaethje, visited the White House. Athletes like Henry Cejudo spoke at campaign rallies. Kid Rock got standing ovations when he showed up on the crowd cam. Now, in the culmination of the strong tie between sport and government, fights will be held on the lawn of the White House. Never before in the history of the country have serious sporting events been held there, and the fact that they are now represents a huge shift in paradigm for UFC fans. There are lots of preconceived notions that people have of those who watch MMA. Perhaps they are seen as loudmouthed, violent, or drunkards. Now, Republican politics and conservatism are the new stereotype, and it isn’t an unfounded one, either. If you tell someone you’re an MMA fan and they ask if you support Donald Trump, you cannot fault them for it. Not when the president of the company is buddied up with the president of the country, and there are fights taking place on the White House lawn. UFC fans who hold left-leaning political beliefs have to take a step back and consider if they want to watch an event so closely tied to politics they disagree with.
This isn’t the worst of it. The United States is currently involved in a war in Iran. It is the ultimate insult to the growing number of American servicemembers who have lost their lives to host this event. It is an attempt by the United States government to emulate the famous quote by Roman poet Juvenal. “Give them bread and circuses, and they will never revolt.” I doubt that Freedom 250 will be so effective in that regard, but what I don’t doubt is that it’s ignorant and in poor taste to have fights on the White House lawn at a time like this. In a time where politics are more divisive than ever, it has become impossible to separate them from the UFC.
