When I heard the news that Trump said he wants to have a UFC event at the White House to celebrate 250 years of USA being an independent country - which I think is next year - at first I thought it was just him doing that thing he does where he gets excited and then rambles a bit. It is no secret that he and Dana White a pals, so something like that would be something he would just blurt out.
What I didn't expect was for everyone, including Dana White, to take it so seriously and then just a bit later on jump at supporting the idea.
I have had a bit of a falling out with UFC lately because their events happen too frequently and the fights seem to be set up in a fashion that favors whoever has the most popular social media rather than who might actually be the best fighter in the bunch. Watching an event from start to finish at the sportsbar with my friends used to be something that I absolutely looked forward to and would get hyped about days in advanced.. now most of the time my group doesn't even talk about it and most of the crew doesn't even go.
I watch it at home in the background on one of those dodgy free online streams that is loaded with pop-ups on an old computer that I do not use for anything else so if they want to try to throw a virus on there- go for it.
Trump and Dana being long-time pals and all, it is no surprise that this was announced but I did find it funny when two things happened. For one, the democrats immediately pounced on this idea and started calling it a waste of money and then started virtue-signalling about health care and food stamps or grandstanding about anything else other than the fact that it would actually be a pretty cool event. And secondly, fighters that have basically walked away from the sport threw their hats in the ring almost immediately.
First off, for some it might be a bit shocking how little McGregor is compared to Jon Jones but the thing is Conor is probably small compared to you. He is a small person, but don't let that go to your head because he'll clean most people's clocks almost immediately, no matter how large you are.
Anyway, these two started tweeting right away about how they would love to take part in this event even though it isn't a real event yet. Jones is funny in particular because just a week ago he was in the news cycle for abruptly and rather unceremoniously retiring from MMA altogether. There was a lot of talk about him being scared to mar his undefeated record by potentially losing to Tom Aspinal and others were saying that he just doesn't have his head in the game anymore - both of these things could very well be true. But when asked about if he would like to participate in a White House UFC he said "it would be an honor" haha
Well, I"m not saying that a UFC in DC at the White House would be a disaster, but it would be one hell of a difficult undertaking as far as security is concerned. I can't even imagine the amount of extra security that would have to exist at this event if actual heads of state were there as well. I've always kind of wondered what sort of security detail Trump has with him for the few events that he attended already. I'm sure there are plenty of Secret Service in attendance kind of staying just a bit out of the cameras.
For me, I think the hassle of attending an event physically at White House property would be so filled with checkpoints and security that it would be more hassle than it is worth to be there. I'm sure plenty of people would really be pushing to go though and honestly, it is one of the few sporting events that could possibly take place in DC where the fans attending are going to be in support of Trump. He has basically captivated that particular audience and is cheered more than most of the fighters when he does turn up at one.
In the end I hope that this does actually happen and I wonder how much control Trump actually has over whether or not it can actually happen. I suppose him being the President and all that if Dana also wants it, that he can make it happen.
src
it was shortly after this meetup that Jones gave the championship belt to Trump
I hope that it does happen just so we can listen to fake ass politicians moan about it for the next year. July 4th is only 2 days behind us and people are already complaining about speculation about what might happen next July 4th. Politics are nuts and I am glad that I have almost nothing to do with them.