The rise of UFC: Dana White's path from 'human cockfighting' to the White House starts with Trump

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The beginning of Dana White and the UFC’s road to the White House can be traced back 25 years to when a fringe mixed martial arts promotion — at the time still unable to shake the “human cockfighting” label applied to the sport years earlier by a U.S. senator — ran a modest event called “Battle on the Boardwalk.”

Making his first appearance as UFC president, White was asked about his goals for the fledging promotion. Sporting close-cropped hair, thinner, dressed in a suit, and using restraint in his words, White still offered a sneak peek of his future bombastic plans.

“We want to make this the Super Bowl of mixed martial arts,” White said.

The site of this seemingly absurd proclamation: Trump Taj Mahal.

A quarter-century later, after larger fights outside the cage for legitimacy and legalization, UFC is back at President Donald Trump's home this weekend, though both the promotion and the businessman have long since leveled up in status and stature.

Unimaginable that night in February 2001 in Atlantic City, UFC is staging seven fights under the Freedom 250 banner Sunday night on the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate Trump's 80th birthday and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence’s signing.

“It’s really quite shocking and really puts the UFC in the spotlight,” said Lavie Margolin, author of the book “Ultimate Fighters” that chronicled the White-Trump relationship. “The potential negatives of it are, it could be too much. Some people do interpret that it’s too much of the MAGA movement. Can I digest this? Thus far, it doesn’t seem to have turned off those who are UFC fans.”

It's the pinnacle of the relationship between White and Trump that has yielded personal, political and financial dividends for both parties. White earned the mainstream visibility for himself and the sport he craved as he stumped for Trump at GOP conventions, while the emboldened right-wing “ manosphere ” that soaks up UFC fights threw its support behind Trump in the elections.

Against the backdrop of a three-month-old war with Iran that’s been broadly unpopular with Americans and has rattled global oil markets and with inflation spiked to the highest level since April 2023, the White House — long known as the people's house and a symbol of American democracy — opened its backyard to host a made-for-television smackdown that has UFC as a tentpole event on the global sports calendar.

“It's huge for the brand,” the 56-year-old White said. “People are talking about this thing all over the world.”

Not always in a positive light.

Rain, though, seems like the more pressing challenge to pulling off a successful fight night. White said the $60 million card will go on even “if it snows," and —- much like his ally in Trump — is dismissive of any critic who accuses the show of being too garish, too expensive, too out-of-touch and out-of-place at a site such as the White House, especially with the country at war.

“I’m in an international business. There’s always something bad going on,” White said. “If you want to move your business around every time something bad goes on in the world, you’d never do business.”

Trump and White are aligned culturally, as much as they may be politically, and their rise can be linked in part to reality TV. Trump's brashness was on display as a reality TV boss on “ The Apprentice, ” a show that propelled him to national prominence following a string of bankruptcies and bad business deals in the 1990s. White got a lifeline from Spike TV in the early 2000s with “ The Ultimate Fighter, " which has become a UFC staple and is widely regarded as one essential in the survival and eventual expansion of the company.

The early iteration of unregulated mixed martial arts was decried by the late Sen. John McCain as “human cockfighting” and it took until 2016 for New York to become the final state to legalize the sport. UFC — then featuring bankable stars such as Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor — became less of an eyeroll and more socially tolerable to favorably link with more traditional and successful stick-and-ball leagues.

Trump has attended four UFC cards as a sitting president, walking to the cage amid rock music and patriotic chants from fans much like the fighters themselves. White had introduced Trump at two Republican National Conventions. White also attended the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April that was cut short by a shooting.

White said the incident did nothing to affect his desire to stage the card in Washington.

“Less than zero,” White said. “What it did do was definitely raise the awareness on security. The White House is the most secure place in America. If anything, the correspondents’ dinner helped as far as security goes. I’m not worried.”

One of the turning points in the relationship came during the COVID pandemic. While other sports shut down for months before resuming in some sort of bubble format, UFC pressed on after a short hiatus with fan-free shows in Florida or “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi. Trump supported White and taped a message before a May 2020 card that said in part: “We love it. We think it’s important. Get the sports leagues back. Let’s play."

White threw his weight behind political causes in the past, notably stumping in 2010 for Nevada Sen. Harry Reid.

A democrat.

White has argued Freedom 250 is not about politics, though the optics surrounding the event, such as his sports diplomacy meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, suggest otherwise.

“I think for the most part he's actually sharing his love of Trump,” Margolin said. “I think Trump wants it because he wants the people to like him and he loves the UFC. It is political that it's highlighting Trump on the world stage and his administration. Without going too far over a cliff, when you have cage fighting, it's demonstrating strength, exerting your will over another, the power over someone else.”

The fight corners are always red and blue — for any newcomers watching Sunday on Paramount+, which is controlled by the Ellison family, also close allies of Trump. White and his fleet of like-minded fighters howl that fight night has nothing to do with a political agenda; that the company is running a show at the White House because it was asked to and would in any circumstance no matter the political party of the president.

“Let's take my American patriotism out of it, let's take my love for the country out of it,” said Michael Chandler, a 40-year-old Missouri native fighting on the card. "When you get into mixed martial arts, when you get into any sport, you want the biggest platform as possible, the most amount of viewers, the most amount of eyeballs, the highest stakes, the brightest lights.

“This is the biggest fight in mixed martial arts. The biggest fight event in UFC history.”

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AP MMA: https://apnews.com/hub/mixed-martial-arts