Dana White

Saturday

Damian Reilly

Is Sean Strickland the redneck hero America needs right now?

Is charismatic UFC middleweight contender Sean Strickland the last American hero? This weekend he fights terrifying undefeated Chechen killing machine Khamzat Chimaev for the UFC world championship. If he wins, immediately he will rival Conor McGregor as the sport’s most famous face. Given Strickland’s proclivity for at every opportunity saying the most politically incorrect thing imaginable – he has taken lately to calling Chimaev a "goat fucker" – there are many for whom this will be an outrage, presumably not least Paramount, who recently paid $7.7 billion for the rights to broadcast UFC events. All sport is political to a greater or lesser extent In his own mind, Strickland is a throwback to a time before liberals monkeyed with prevailing Western cultural values.

sean Strickland

Friday

Britt McHenry

Donald Trump saved the UFC 

A new bombshell has fallen on the sports-media villa: Dana White cloaked in the glory of a whopping seven-year, $7.7 billion media-rights deal with Paramount to stream all UFC fights on Paramount+ in the United States and select simulcast events on CBS. For the love of everyone’s wallets, goodbye Pay Per View and hello to a new right-wing cultural shift in mainstream sports coverage.  Why is this new deal so relevant? Since the UFC’s inception in 1993, mixed martial arts existed as its own niche category. Critics openly said it wasn’t a real sport. They lampooned the more brutal style of MMA as less skilled and artistic than boxing, once a more revered American pastime.

Tuesday

Cockburn

Is Trump DC’s Batman?

What is Washington to make of the President’s efforts to “make DC safe again?” If you’re only capable of measuring Trump’s actions by how authoritarian they appear, then, sure, his declaration of a state of emergency, seizure of control of the Metropolitan Police Department and mobilization of the National Guard must seem scary. Cockburn empathizes with the small number of DC residents – and larger cohort in other cities and around the world – who see Trump’s use of the powers granted him by the Home Rule Act as concerning. On his Monday evening constitutional around Northwest DC, Cockburn saw a number of arrests taking place, more MPD cars on the street than usual and heard a chorus of sirens cascading into the night.

Trump as Batman (Grok)
Dana White
Neal Pollack

The White House UFC cage fight

When President Trump said in July that he planned to host a Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White House lawn next year as part of the U.S.A.’s 250th birthday celebrations, people dismissed it as a typical piece of hyperbole and bluster. “We have a lot of land there,” Trump said, which is somewhat true, but that doesn’t mean that you can plop down an Octagon, right? Well, as it turns out, that’s exactly what it means. Trump is like that boy in the old Twilight Zone episode. Whatever he wishes, comes true. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, UFC boss Dana White, one of Trump’s biggest supporters, said that the UFC 250th anniversary (of the U.S.) is definitely going to happen. “Fighters will be warming up in the White House,” White said.

Thursday

Aidan McLaughlin

How podcasts swayed the 2024 election

Around 2:45 on the morning of November 6, Donald Trump beckoned Dana White to the lectern to address the sea of MAGA-hatted supporters assembled to celebrate the former president’s election victory. In his brief but animated remarks at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship made sure to thank a cadre of figures who might just have been the key to Trump’s shocking triumph. “I want to thank the Nelk Boys, Adin Ross, Theo Von, Bussin’ With the Boys,” White said, “and last but not least, the mighty and powerful Joe Rogan!” You would be forgiven for not knowing who all these people are. No doubt many of the faithful assembled to cheer Trump were perplexed as well.

podcasts

Wednesday

Zack Christenson

Trump hails new ‘golden age’ in Palm Beach victory speech

At just before 2:30 a.m. ET, President-elect Donald Trump took the stage in West Palm Beach to declare victory as the 47th president of the United States. "This will truly be the golden age of America," Trump said. "It will make America great again. There was no other path to victory. We will make you proud of your vote." After thanking his family, his youngest son Barron towering over him and Melania, he went through a litany of shoutouts and thank-yous to his inner circle, including Elon Musk, who he praised as "a genius we must protect" after giving a detailed rundown watching a SpaceX rocket land after a launch; and Dana White, who he invited to the stage to offer thanks to a roster of podcasters including Theo Von and the Nelk Boys.

donald trump victory

Friday

Matt McDonald

A new subdued Trump at the RNC

Milwaukee, Wisconsin “The challenge for Trump,” says The Spectator editorial from this month’s magazine “is to show Americans a steady hand and a normal face.” The normal face the Republican National Convention opted for was that of wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, who took to the stage waving a huge American flag, began his remarks by yelling, "Well let me tell you something brother" and later removed his jacket so he could tear his vest in half to reveal a red "Trump-Vance" tank top underneath. "Let Trumpomania run wild!" he screamed. The Fiserv Forum was exuberant. High up in the stands, Russell Brand was sat a few rows behind me, for some reason. Is this America's new normal? https://twitter.com/jordanuhl/status/1814111040076153156?

donald trump subdued rnc

Monday

The Spectator

Dems torn as pro-Palestine protests rock universities

Columbia University’s pro-Palestinian protests are inspiring a nationwide movement while the Democratic Party finds itself split in two. A group of twenty-one House Democrats called on Columbia’s president, Minouche Shafik, to end the encampment or resign as progressives such as Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman joined in the Manhattan university’s protests Friday.The Democratic Party struggles with clashing opinions regarding the broader conflict as well as concerns over electability — particularly as “uncommitted” voters sent a message to President Joe Biden in the primary over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

Sunday

Cockburn

Donald Trump is UFC royalty

Donald Trump’s ninety-one felony charges can’t keep him down, nor the thunderous applause of his fans. The former president and well-known mixed martial arts fan was given the celebrity treatment at UFC 295 at New York's Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, complete with his own walkout song.   Kid Rock’s “American Badass” blared as UFC announcers turned their undivided attention to Trump’s arrival. The 20,000-person stadium erupted in cheers as Trump made his way to his ringside seats flanked by his entourage — UFC president Dana White, Kid Rock, Tucker Carlson and Don Jr.  https://twitter.com/ufcontnt/status/1723536824843243833?

donald trump UFC

Monday

Ben Domenech

Trump at UFC and Kristen Bell’s dinner party: two viral moments from two Americas

Viral moments from either side of the American divide come so frequently these days that they are forgotten just as fast — but a few stick in our memory as signposts on the wandering, treacherous road we find ourselves on as people who have to share a country. The first is from Kristen Bell’s Instagram, featuring a star-studded cast at dinner at Jimmy Kimmel’s $8 million Idaho fly fishing lodge, featuring Jennifer Aniston, Jimmy Fallon, Courteney Cox, John Mulaney, Olivia Munn, Adam Scott, Jason Bateman, Shiri Appelby, Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid, Bell’s husband Dax Shepard and, of course, Jake Tapper. https://twitter.com/coledelbyck/status/1677334337245642753 “Excited to join your new cult,” the CNN anchor commented on Instagram.

trump ufc