All About the White House UFC Fight on Trump’s Birthday

Nothing says “Happy birthday, America!” like two guys beating each other up on the White House lawn — at least, that’s the premise of the Ultimate Fighting Championship event being held on the White House grounds in June. The mixed-martial-arts event is part of this year’s national celebrations around the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. But the UFC fight will happen on Donald Trump’s 80th birthday, so draw your own conclusions about what it’s really celebrating. So how can you watch UFC White House? Who’s fighting? Why is this even happening? Here’s a guide, which we’ll keep updated, to everything we know. Sunday, June 14, 2026, which is both Flag Day and Trump’s 80th birthday. Trump announced the date himself in October 2025 during a speech to military personnel in Virginia: Trump: "On June 14 next year we're gonna have a big UFC fight at the White House, right at the White House, on the grounds of the White House." pic.twitter.com/RJIOKjIhx5 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 5, 2025 Both Trump and the UFC’s CEO, Dana White, initially said the event would take place on July 4, 2026, suggesting it would be the centerpiece of Washington, D.C.’s Semiquincentennial festivities. But The Wall Street Journal reported that “with so many events already planned,” the planners decided to shift it back by a few weeks. The initial idea called for the event — a full card featuring men and women — to be held July 4, 2026, as a capstone to America’s 250th birthday celebration. But with so many events already planned, the date shifted to sometime in June, people involved in the planning said. UFC plans to have a large presence in Washington ahead of the event, with several days of fan festivities on the National Mall, which are to include autograph sessions with UFC stars and punching bags for tourists to test their skills. Presumably, we’ll hear lots of spin on this subject as we get closer to the event. (Maybe: “The UFC is a young and disruptive sports organization, not unlike the scrappy revolutionaries who founded this country!” Or “Nothing represents our hard-fought battle for independence like two fighters punching, kicking, and grappling in a cage!”) The reality is that the Trump administration just likes the UFC — and the fact that holding a cage match on the White House lawn horrifies elites. As the Journal put it: Some decry a White House cage fight as undignified — “authoritarian theatre,” according to one headline. Trump’s allies revel in its boldness, a sign of his ability to rattle elites and captivate supporters with an unabashed expression of aggression. Trump aides, some of whom have decorated their offices with UFC photos, are already being badgered by lawmakers and friends for tickets. When The Wall Street Journal asked White what connects MAGA and the UFC, he gave a one-word answer: “Testosterone.” Okay, sure. Also, Trump and White have been friends for years, and their business and political interests are deeply intertwined. In the early aughts, mixed martial arts was banned in most states and the UFC was struggling to book big venues. (A few years earlier, Senator John McCain had famously denounced the sport as “human cockfighting.”) But Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City agreed to host UFC events and celebrity businessman attended them, giving the organization exposure and legitimacy. “Nobody took us seriously,” White has said repeatedly. “Except Donald Trump.” As the UFC’s popularity skyrocketed and Trump entered politics, the two men occasionally supported each other’s ventures (for example, one of the UFC’s biggest stars appeared on The Celebrity Apprentice, and White spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention). But Trump made White and the UFC central to his 2024 bid in an attempt to attract young male voters. White connected Trump with “manosphere” podcasters and influencers, and the CEO played a visible role in the campaign, speaking at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally and his 2024 victory party. White isn’t wrong about “testosterone” — or, rather, hypermasculinity — being a big part of all this. As Karim Zidan explained in The Guardian, UFC White House is the “natural climax of a partnership in which the UFC has become the stage for Maga mythology”: Fascist Italy used rallies, parades and sports events to project strength and unity. Sports, especially combat sports, were used as tools to cultivate Mussolini’s ideal masculinity and portray Italy as a strong and powerful nation. Similarly, Trump has relied on the UFC to project his tough-guy image, and to celebrate his brand of nationalistic masculinity. From name-dropping champions who endorse him to suggesting a tournament that would pit UFC fighters against illegal immigrants, Trump has repeatedly found ways to make UFC-style machismo a part of his political brand. Weirdly, the last person you think of when you hear “UFC-style machismo”: Ivanka Trump. In August 2025, White told CBS News that in their very first conversation about the event, Trump said he wanted his eldest daughter involved. “When [the president] called me and asked me to do it, he said, ‘I want Ivanka in the middle of this,’” White said. “So Ivanka reached out to me, and her and I started talking about the possibilities, where it would be, and I put together all the renderings. I’m flying out there at the end of the month, and I’m going to sit down with those two and start figuring it out.” Bloody cage matches certainly do not fit with the Grace Kelly princess image Ivanka has tried to cultivate. The former White House adviser has also largely sworn off politics. But if you follow Ivanka on Instagram, her involvement actually makes sense. Since 2024, she has attended several UFC fights with her family, she and her kids have taken up jujitsu, and she’s become friends with White, captioning one Instagram Story directed at the CEO “Love you brother!” The plan is to construct the Octagon (the fighting arena in the UFC is an eight-sided cage) on the South Lawn of the White House. White unveiled renderings during a September interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier. “My vision for this thing is we have this big arch, as you can see, with the lighting grid,” White said. “Because what I want is the White House in the back. And then when you shoot — when the fight goes around to the other side, you’ll see the Washington Monument in the background.’’ During an appearance on the Flagrant podcast in November, White said he’s determined to have the White House in the background no matter the cost. “You don’t want to not see the fucking White House,” he said. “I said, ‘I don’t give a shit what this structure costs. I want to see the White House.’” There’s been talk of weigh-ins being held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, but these plans have not been finalized. As the Journal reported, there has been no shortage of audacious ideas for how to use the executive mansion: Fighters might warm up in the White House. One early idea was to have them emerge from the Oval Office and walk through a colonnade and into a cage set up in the Rose Garden.