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Will the UFC White House Event Be More Tacky or Less Tacky Than Lex Luger Body Slamming Yokozuna Aboard an Aircraft Carrier?
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The UFC White House card takes place this Sunday, June 14th, and features local product Kyle Daukaus on the card. He’ll fight Penn State alum Bo Nickal in the second bout.
Recently, there was a lawsuit filed to stop the event:
“The suit, filed by the Public Integrity Project in District of Columbia federal court, alleges that the Department of Interior and the National Park Service violated federal law by organizing a private sporting event on public property and failing to obtain congressional approval for the event’s multiple construction sites. An emergency application for a preliminary injunction to stop the event was filed early Sunday morning in the same court.”
It seems doubtful that this lawsuit goes anywhere, but there’s been grumbling about the event, a general complaint that it feels tacky and makes a mockery of the hallowed grounds of the White House. The argument is that the Trump administration is violating the sanctity of this public space for an event in which cage fighting brutes beat the shit out one another.
Which is fine, if that’s your stance. You can have that stance. The thing that I find curious is identifying where the displeasure begins and ends, for instance –
- Do people find this tacky in a non-partisan way?
- Or do they just hate Donald Trump, and therefore hate this by extension?
- What if Joe Biden held UFC Freedom 250 at the White House?
- Would it still be tacky if the President was a Democrat or an Independent?
- Do the complainers just hate the UFC in general because it’s become a bastion for MAGA thought?
- What if the event wasn’t fighting, but a football game or a basketball game on the south lawn? Would they still hate it then?
For what it’s worth, UFC is branding the event this way:
“UFC Freedom 250 commemorates the 250th birthday of the United States with a once-in-a-generation celebration of the American fighting spirit. From the Revolution to the Octagon, this historic event will connect fans through cinematic storytelling and unrivaled competition on the world’s greatest proving ground.”
Fair enough. Seems reasonable, although the funny thing is that they’re celebrating the “American fighting spirit” with 14 fighters and six of them are foreigners. The main event and co-main feature one American, while the other three guys are from Brazil, France, and Spain via Georgia. MMA is a diverse sport, which makes the MAGA criticism somewhat funky, because the UFC in particular is chock full of guys from Europe and Russia and South America, and that runs antithetical to the belief that combat sports fans are majority white Trumpers. If anything, combat sport is one of the most widely-represented and accessible disciplines in the entire world.
Anyway –
What’s interesting is that there’s a long history of sporting events taking place on military installations. The UFC held a “Fight for the Troops” series with events at Fort Hood and Fort Campbell. Major League Baseball had a 2016 game between the Braves and Marlins at Fort Bragg. ESPN did its Armed Forces Classic for college basketball in which games were played at Ramstein Air Base, Camp Humphreys, and other spots. And, of course, who could forget when Lex Luger got off a helicopter and body slammed Yokozuna on the USS Intrepid back in 1993:
This was part of a larger USA vs. Yokozuna bit that took place on the Fourth of July. So it wasn’t real; it was just for entertainment and laughs, but was it also tacky? Was this a cheap use of a decommissioned naval vessel? You could certainly make that argument.
The thing about these past events is that they’ve all been positioned as something of a military tribute, like a way to say thanks to the troops by going to the bases and performing there, or filling the crowds with servicemen and women. The UFC White House event is not explicitly being marketed this way, though it’s been reported that servicemembers will make up a decent portion of the crowd, which is invite only. It’s a small crowd numbering less than 5,000 people.
It’s also been stated that no taxpayer money is being used for the White House event, and that UFC will restore the south lawn afterward, so nothing permanent with the stuff they’re building right now. Two weeks from now, you won’t even know this event took place, other than what was recorded on video.
Either way, the event coincides with nationwide Semiquincentennial celebrations, so if it’s packaged appropriately, it could be a straightforward patriotic thing that goes well. Some people like these displays and others don’t. Look no further than military flyovers at football games and the Eagles visiting (or not visiting) the White House. We’ve been having these arguments for decades now, arguments about the appropriateness of nationalism in sport, and the presence of politicians. Should the national anthem be sung before sporting events? Stuff like that.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com