UFC News & FeaturesPresident Trump Claims UFC Will Hold Upcoming Event at White House
If the President has his say, the
Ultimate Fighting Championship will be coming to his backyard
in 2026.
On Thursday, President Trump spoke at a “Salute to America” event in Iowa, where he name-dropped UFC chief Dana White and mentioned that the UFC was going to have an event at the White House next year. While it would be far from the first UFC card to have a head of state in attendance, if actually staged on the premises and not the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., it would be the first on the actual grounds of a nation’s capital. It is unclear from Trump’s comments how the promotion would build a temporary arena to house tens of thousands of attendees on the 18-acre property of the grounds of the White House.
On July 4, 2026, the U.S. will be celebrating its 250th anniversary of signing the Declaration of Independence. A number of events and festivities are planned for what is called the Semiquincentennial in Washington, D.C., and the UFC may be one of them. According to organizing entity America250, this “Salute to America” event in Des Moines, Iowa, starts off the one-year countdown of this anniversary celebration.
“We’re gonna have special events in honor of the [250th Anniversary of the U.S.] I even think we’re gonna have a UFC fight…does anybody watch the UFC, the great Dana White? We’re gonna have a UFC fight—think of this, on the grounds of the White House. We have a lot of land there. We’re going to build a little…we’re not, Dana’s going to do it, Dana’s great, one of a kind…” Trump suggested.
The President of the United States continued, “We’re going to have a UFC fight, championship fight, full fight, like 20, 25 thousand people, and we’re going to do that as part of 250 also. We’re going to have some incredible events, professional events, some amateur events, but the UFC’s fights [are] going to be a big deal, too.”
The UFC has previously held two events in Washington, D.C. over the years. The first came in 2011, with a card staged on the Versus network headlined by a bantamweight championship battle between Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson. It returned eight years later, with another fight night, this one on the ESPN airwaves. At UFC on ESPN 7, Jairzinho Rozenstruik split the lip of Alistair Overeem in its main attraction. The latter was significant for its memorial of ESPN talent Stuart Scott, with the card coined “Fight Like Hell Night.”
On Thursday, President Trump spoke at a “Salute to America” event in Iowa, where he name-dropped UFC chief Dana White and mentioned that the UFC was going to have an event at the White House next year. While it would be far from the first UFC card to have a head of state in attendance, if actually staged on the premises and not the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., it would be the first on the actual grounds of a nation’s capital. It is unclear from Trump’s comments how the promotion would build a temporary arena to house tens of thousands of attendees on the 18-acre property of the grounds of the White House.
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Third Event in the D.C. Region?
On July 4, 2026, the U.S. will be celebrating its 250th anniversary of signing the Declaration of Independence. A number of events and festivities are planned for what is called the Semiquincentennial in Washington, D.C., and the UFC may be one of them. According to organizing entity America250, this “Salute to America” event in Des Moines, Iowa, starts off the one-year countdown of this anniversary celebration.
“We’re gonna have special events in honor of the [250th Anniversary of the U.S.] I even think we’re gonna have a UFC fight…does anybody watch the UFC, the great Dana White? We’re gonna have a UFC fight—think of this, on the grounds of the White House. We have a lot of land there. We’re going to build a little…we’re not, Dana’s going to do it, Dana’s great, one of a kind…” Trump suggested.
The President of the United States continued, “We’re going to have a UFC fight, championship fight, full fight, like 20, 25 thousand people, and we’re going to do that as part of 250 also. We’re going to have some incredible events, professional events, some amateur events, but the UFC’s fights [are] going to be a big deal, too.”
Trump: "We're gonna have a UFC fight on the grounds on the White House ... we're gonna do that as part of 250." pic.twitter.com/QPeRLvE5HT
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 4, 2025
The UFC has previously held two events in Washington, D.C. over the years. The first came in 2011, with a card staged on the Versus network headlined by a bantamweight championship battle between Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson. It returned eight years later, with another fight night, this one on the ESPN airwaves. At UFC on ESPN 7, Jairzinho Rozenstruik split the lip of Alistair Overeem in its main attraction. The latter was significant for its memorial of ESPN talent Stuart Scott, with the card coined “Fight Like Hell Night.”
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