US President Donald Trump has announced that the White House will host a UFC bout next year as part of activities commemorating 250 years of American freedom.
On Thursday, Trump assured a crowd in Iowa that the event will be a “championship fight” with an audience of 20,000-25,000.
The president, a friend of UFC president Dana White, stated, “We are going to have some incredible events, some professional events, some amateur events.”
Trump has been to many UFC events, including UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey, last month, where he was photographed watching a bout with White.
Speaking to the crowd during an appearance at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Trump said, “Does anybody watch UFC? The great Dana White? We’re going to have a UFC fight. We’re going to have a UFC fight – think of this – on the grounds of the White House. We have a lot of land there.”
Following Trump’s statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the plans for X, saying, “It’s going to be EPIC!”
Trump’s ties to the UFC go back more than 20 years. When White was looking for a site for a UFC fight, he hosted it at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City in 2001.
White has supported the president’s political career from the start, promoting his presidential campaign in 2016 and referring to Trump as a “fighter”.
Following last year’s failed assassination attempt on Trump, White praised him as a “tough guy” and “the legitimate, ultimate, American badass of all time”.
Trump indicated that the UFC event will be one of many commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence on July 4, next year.
He said, “Every one of our national parks, battlefields and historic sites are going to have special events in honour of America250.”
