Yesterday I belatedly realized that the highly controversial UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) bouts at the White House were being shown on Paramount+ at no extra cost, and we had a Paramount+ subscription.
So I fired up our Apple TV at 5 pm Oregon time, 8 pm Washington DC time, because I was curious to see the spectacle that had caused so much justified uproar among progressives like me. It did seem outrageous that the UFC folks could basically rent the White House grounds for MMA (mixed martial arts) fights in an especially built octagon that was plastered with ads for the corporate sponsors.
When Michelle Obama planted a vegetable garden on the White House grounds, that was viewed as sacrilege by conservative critics.
Yet here is Donald Trump, using the excuse of his 80th birthday to team up with UFC president and CEO Dana White to put on a show that supposedly was part of our nation’s 250th anniversary celebration, but really was a reflection of Trump’s monstrous ego and bad taste.
I watched three or four of the UFC bouts. They were entertaining, for sure.
I was an avid karate student back in the 1990s when MMA was evolving under the influence of jiujitsu practitioners like the Gracie brothers. I remember watching a bout where Royce Gracie won via an armbar while he was lying flat at his back and his opponent was standing over him. Pretty damn impressive. And a reminder that many or most real fights end up on the ground where punching and kicking is largely useless.
Modern UFC bouts, though, are as much spectacle as sport. They’re pleasingly real, unlike WWF “wrestling” matches. But there’s plenty of posturing, name-calling, and such in UFC generally, which also was on full display at the White House grounds. Several times the winner of a bout would walk along the edge of the octagon to shake hands with Trump, who was sitting ringside.
That reminded me of a successful gladiator paying respect to the Roman emperor. Trump seemed to bask in the reflected glory of the MMA fighters, even though I’m not aware of anything he’s done in his life that comes close to being similarly athletic, dangerous, and macho.
The heavyweight bout I watched was one of the final events. I’m pretty sure the fighters came out of the Oval Office on their way to the octagon. At first I couldn’t believe that Trump would allow the Oval Office to be used in such a fashion. Then I remembered that Trump has no respect for tradition or propriety, so I did believe it. Here’s photo of a fighter in the Oval Office (not one of the heavyweight fighters).
The fighter is talented. The photo disgusts me. This UFC event could have been held at one of Trump’s resorts and I wouldn’t have had any problem with it. It was using the White House grounds for such a blatant commercial purpose that bothered me, big time.
I don’t blame the fighters for taking part in the event. I blame Trump and Dana White for using the White House in such a disrespectful way. Just about everything Trump touches turns into an embarrassment for our nation. Last night was no exception.
The sportsmanship of the UFC fighters toward each other was the best part of the event for me. In the heavyweight match, Alex Pereira was knocked out by Ciryl Gane. I recall that Pereira walked into a vicious left jab by Gane that was timed perfectly by the bigger fighter. That punch may have been the one in this photo.
Gane didn’t strut around after his win. He calmly accepted his victory, going over to Pereira and giving him a hug. Hopefully he wasn’t seriously injured. I’ll remember positive moments like that from the UFC event. I just hope I can forget the images of Trump being fawned over by some of the fighters.
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