United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to host a UFC bout on the White House grounds in 2026, as part of the celebrations marking 250 years of American independence.
The event, Trump said, will be a “championship fight” with an audience of 20,000–25,000, featuring top-ranked UFC fighters and broadcast nationwide as part of a major Independence Day weekend celebration.
The two time American president suggested the UFC event would be one of many to mark the 250th anniversary of the country’s independence on 4 July next year.
He said, “Every one of our national parks, battlefields and historic sites are going to have special events in honour of America250.”
Addressing the crowd during an appearance at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, the republican leader 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.”
“We are going to have some incredible events, some professional events, some amateur events,” he added.
Following the president’s announcement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the plans on X, writing: “It’s going to be EPIC!”
Trump, who is a friend of UFC president Dana White, has attended several UFC events, including UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey, last month, where he was pictured watching a fight with White.
His links to UFC date back more than 20 years. In 2001, he hosted a UFC fight at Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City when White was struggling to find a venue.
The UFC boss has backed the president’s political career from the beginning, endorsing his presidential bid in 2016, calling Trump a “fighter”.
Following a failed assassination attempt on Trump last year, White described Trump as a “tough guy” and “the legitimate, ultimate, American badass of all time”.
