Like so many moments in the second Trump administration, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s “Freedom 250” event on Sunday night began with money flowing to the president’s allies. The night of mixed martial arts bouts, which were staged on the White House’s South Lawn, was billed by President Donald Trump’s Cabinet as a “gift to the American people.” However, the public was only able to watch it with a subscription to Paramount Plus, the streaming arm of the media conglomerate owned by billionaire Trump backer Larry Ellison.
As TPM’s resident martial arts correspondent, I dutifully ponied up my subscription fee and tuned in for the more than five hour spectacle. The required payment to Paramount was just one of many ways the event pulled viewers in to the swampy mix of business deals and presidential power that has been a hallmark of the Trump era.
Overall, the evening exemplified the new flavors of American life and power. By the time the last punch landed and the blood was wiped away, the night included suspicious stiff armed salutes, transphobic insults, and fresh allegations of sexual assault as well as pitches for Silicon Valley AI, crypto, prediction markets, and the Saudi regime.
“Freedom 250” took place on Trump’s 80th birthday and was reportedly fully funded by the UFC. It also gave the president an opportunity to personally cash in. The broadcast consistently featured ads for RealTrumpCoins.com, a venture from the president’s licensing company that is selling UFC branded medallions purportedly “authorized and endorsed/designed by President Trump himself.” This “official President Trump gold and silver,” which costs between $249.99 and $11,999.99 was adorned with the president’s face.
This near perfect microcosm of MAGA excess and corruption was the latest chapter of the longstanding relationship between the global right wing and martial arts. For Trump, that history has included decades of earning cash from boxing and wrestling, multiple figures in his two administrations whose careers include combat sports and pro wrestling, a deep association with the “manosphere” that has evolved from the MMA world, and even some family members who are stepping into the ring. Trump’s FBI director, Kash Patel, also made his own murky deal with the UFC.
Along with all that, there is also a strong relationship between Ellison’s media empire and Trump. Last July, just before the mogul purchased Paramount, the company made a questionable $16 million payment to the president. The following month, Paramount unveiled a multibillion dollar exclusive streaming deal with the UFC. And, as this was all unfolding, Ellison and his son pushed the company’s CBS News arm sharply to the right as Trump began floating the idea of fights on the White House lawn.
The weekend of events in Washington began with a report from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on Saturday that one of the event’s headliners, heavyweight Alex “Poatan” Pereira, had been accused of abuse by two women. Pereira has denied the allegations. The CBC’s coverage was based on court records and depositions reviewed by the network. It makes Pereira the latest of several MAGA-aligned figures — including the president himself — to face accusations of sexual assault.
At the White House, Pereira was defeated by Cyril Gane via TKO in the second round after weathering a series of overpowering strikes. There were seven bouts on the Trumpian card and — for the first time in UFC history — each of the fights on the card ended in a knockout or TKO.
Along with the knockdowns, the fights featured a notable political attack. After defeating heavyweight Derrick Lewis (who the event’s announcers repeatedly referred to by his nickname “The Black Beast”), Josh Hokit attacked former first lady Michelle Obama in a post-fight interview with podcaster and UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan.
“Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?” Hokit shouted.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Josh Hokit,” said Rogan.
Almost all of the bouts featured at least one American combatant. The audience, which included a large contingent of military service members, generally cheered for their countrymen with chants of “USA!”
One of the Americans who received this treatment was Sean O’Malley, who had announced that he planned “on hitting a little salute to Trump” in the leadup to his bout. After O’Malley defeated Canadian Aiemann Zahabi, he repeatedly made a gesture that started with a typical salute, hand to forehead, and ended with his arm stuck straight forward at an angle. The move sparked debate online over whether it was intended to resemble a Nazi salute. At one point, O’Malley, who has a history of alleged racism, delivered the “salute” directly in front of the president. The UFC and the White House did not respond to questions from TPM about the gesture’s apparent similarity to the fascist salute, which has also been a feature of Trump’s MAGA movement.
Some of the most notable symbols displayed during the evening came on the ring itself. The UFC’s signature caged “octagon” was festooned with ads for the Silicon Valley weapons manufacturer Anduril, Meta AI, multiple gambling and cryptocurrency ventures, including one owned by the Trump family, and a festival in Riyadh that has been criticized as part of the Saudi regime’s “sportwashing” attempts to paper over their human rights abuses. The display of these ads for questionably ethical enterprises on the White House grounds would seem to be a clear violation of federal regulations against the use of public office to promote or endorse commercial enterprises. Of course, under Trump those regulations — along with various other prohibitions against the president profiting from his office — seem to have been knocked out.
By the end of “Freedom 250,” along with all the ads, the octagon was covered in blood after Ilia Topuria suffered a brutal beating at the hands of Justin Gaethje. According to the ringside commentators, the ringside doctor tried to stop the fight but was overruled. Afterwards, the announcers reported that Topuria had been taken to the hospital and they speculated he had suffered orbital fractures. With the White House fully turned into a venue for blatant profiteering and sneering gladiatorial spectacle, it was clear that the fighter’s face wasn’t the only thing that had been broken.
