Will Dana White deliver on his promise of making “the baddest card of all time” for the UFC White House event? President Donald Trump certainly is under that impression.
Buzz generated quickly after Trump announced this past July that the UFC would hold fights on the White House lawn to commemorate the 250th anniversary of America’s independence. White soon followed up with his “baddest card of all time” promise, and recently Trump suggested that the UFC White House card will be loaded with a record number of title fights.
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“The great Dana White is building an arena,” Trump said at the 48th annual Kennedy Center Honors gala on Dec. 7. “They’re going to have eight or nine championship fights – the biggest fights they’ve ever had. Every one’s a championship fight, and every one’s a legendary type of fight. He’s actually holding back fights right now for six months so he can do it for this, the 250.”
Are Trump’s expectations realistic? Joe Rogan doesn’t believe so, calling the idea of that many title fights on one card “nuts.”
Who wants to fight on the UFC White House card?
US mixed martial arts fighter Jon Jones (R) greets Irish fighter Conor McGregor (L) during the ceremonial weigh-in ahead of Jones’ UFC 285 heavyweight title bout against French mixed martial arts fighter Ciryl Gane at the MGM Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 3, 2023. – Jones will fight Ciryl Gane of France for the title on March 4. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
As of now, no bouts have been officially booked for the UFC White House card. But given how much Trump is adored by the MMA community as a whole, it’s no surprise that a number of big-name fighters have expressed their desire to be included.
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Chief among them are Conor McGregor and Jon Jones. McGregor has said he expects to fight Michael Chandler at the White House, although his public price tag of $100 million casts some doubt about his return to the octagon after nearly five years away. Jones has repeatedly issued desperate pleas to be included, but White has said he isn’t sure Jones can be trusted to make it to fight night.
Kayla Harrison, who is currently the only American UFC champion, fully expects to be on the card. However, she first has to defend her bantamweight title against Amanda Nunes, who’s coming out of retirement, on Jan. 24 at UFC 324.
Islam Makhachev has said he wants to fight at the White House, which could serve as the location for his expected first welterweight title defense against former champ Kamaru Usman.
Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, Bo Nickal, and Bryce Mitchell, among the most ardent Trump supporters on the UFC roster, all have campaigned to be on the UFC White House card.
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Who won’t be fighting on the UFC White House card?
In a surprising development, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira recently posted on social media that it “looks like (the) White House is a NO GO.” Pereira, one of the UFC’s biggest stars, had been actively campaigning to fight Jones.
Also somewhat surprising, Sean Strickland recently removed himself from consideration to fight on the UFC White House card, saying he’d rather not “go hang out with the f*cking Epstein list,” a reference to Trump and other prominent figures’ names appearing in the Epstein files surrounding the case of convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
When will the UFC White House fight card be announced?
Recently the promotion announced its dates and some main events for the first quarter of 2026. The UFC White House events lands at the end of the promotion’s second-quarter calendar on June 14. Expect fights to start being made sometime in early spring.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC White House card: Who is fighting?
