Trump says UFC fight at White House to be staged on his 80th birthday

US President Donald Trump announces the ‘big UFC fight’ connected the White House grounds volition present instrumentality spot connected June 14.

An Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) combat planned astatine the White House volition instrumentality spot connected Donald Trump’s 80th birthday, the United States president said, contempt the much-hyped lawsuit having been antecedently announced for July 4.

“On June 14 adjacent year, we’re going to person a large UFC combat astatine the White House – close astatine the White House, connected the grounds of the White House,” Trump told a assemblage of navy sailors astatine the immense naval basal Norfolk successful Virginia.

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He did not notation that June 14 is his day oregon that adjacent twelvemonth volition beryllium his 80th.

On his 79th day this year, Trump held a subject parade that was meant to commemorate the founding of the US Army.

In August, UFC brag Dana White said the mixed martial arts (MMA) bout astatine the White House would beryllium held connected July 4 adjacent year, the time the US marks the 250th day of its founding.

Trump has been a protagonist of UFC for decades – astir precocious attending a UFC 316 lawsuit successful New Jersey connected June 7 – wherever fighters punch, footwear and grapple with their hostile successful a no-holds-barred conflict to submission oregon knockout.

Bringing the brutal combat athletics to the centre of US governmental powerfulness volition people a historical first.

At a quality league shared connected UFC’s YouTube channel, White said aboriginal adjacent year, “we’ll commencement looking astatine gathering the White House card, which I volition close present archer you volition beryllium the top combat paper ever assembled successful the past of decidedly this company.”

UFC is the largest and astir palmy organisation successful the burgeoning satellite of MMA, a blend of martial arts disciplines similar jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, boxing and wrestling.

Bouts instrumentality spot successful an eight-sided ringing – dubbed the “Octagon” – bounded by a chainlink fence.

With fewer exceptions – specified arsenic eye-gouging – antheral and pistillate fighters are allowed to employment astir immoderate method to onslaught their opponent.

The sport’s popularity with young men – a cardinal demographic successful the 2024 US predetermination – and Trump’s agelong relation with the UFC person made the president a regular fixture astatine immoderate of its much high-profile events, wherever helium is greeted similar a stone star.

Its brutal quality and precocious wounded complaint mean the athletics is controversial, with doctors decrying the imaginable for encephalon harm among fighters who are repeatedly deed successful the head, though it has gained expanding mainstream acceptance successful caller years.

Trump’s relation with UFC dates backmost to 2001, erstwhile helium hosted 2 events successful New Jersey [File: Evan Vucci/AP Photo]