{"id":174032,"date":"2026-06-16T10:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=174032"},"modified":"2026-06-15T15:00:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T19:00:26","slug":"the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ultimate Fighting Championship Goes to Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Photograph by G. Edward Johnson, via Wikimedia Commons<\/a>. Licensed under CC BY 4.0<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

In an apt omen of things to come,<\/span> the first prefight press conference for UFC Freedom 250 opened with an AI-generated promotional video and ended with an unplanned altercation. It was early May; the Ultimate Fighting Championship\u2019s \u201cD.C. Takeover\u201d\u2014the culmination of Donald Trump\u2019s promise to bring the UFC to the White House\u2014was still more than a month away. But UFC President Dana White convened the event\u2019s stars for a quick Q&A in Newark, New Jersey. Most of the fighters came dressed in suits, button-downs, or athleisure, but heavyweight Josh \u201cthe Incredible Hok\u201d Hokit arrived wearing a long black cloak, an American-flag-themed skullcap, and matching gloves\u2014candy cane stripes trailing down every finger, a solid blue block across his knuckles, an eagle glaring out from the back of each hand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hokit, a former NFL player who transitioned to MMA because he \u201cwanted to do a real man\u2019s sport,\u201d has a penchant for answering journalists\u2019 questions in rhymes. This presser was no exception. He aimed his insults at Brazilian fighter Alex \u201cPoatan\u201d Pereira, in an attempt to goad him (and White) into setting up an official bout, now that the former middleweight champion had moved up to Hokit\u2019s weight class. (\u201cAlex gained some weight and now he thinks he\u2019s King Kong \/ but his girl said the steroids killed his ding dong.\u201d) When a reporter asked Hokit about going face-to-face with Pereira, he escalated:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I come to devour.
\n<\/span>You will know the day, you will know the hour.
\n<\/span>I\u2019m gonna give Pereira a golden shower!<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

(In case anyone missed the subtext, he went on: \u201cI\u2019m not just gonna win. I\u2019m gonna PISS ON HIM.\u201d)<\/span> But as Pereira, only two seats away, calmly responded to the poem via translator, Hokit seemed to grow more agitated (\u201cHe speaks English!\u201d), pointing and yelling at Pereira\u2014and, soon, at a third fighter, Ilia \u201cEl Matador\u201d Topuria, for trying to mediate this too-long exchange between two people who weren\u2019t even scheduled to fight each other. In the end, Hokit was thrown out, forcing the press conference to finish less than half an hour after it had started.<\/span><\/p>\n

The energy was more subdued when the athletes reconvened a month later for the kickoff press conference in front of the Lincoln Memorial, where local children, in UFC Freedom 250 T-shirts, ushered the fighters to their seats and the reporters noticeably avoided asking Hokit questions. The heavyweight, leaning into the caricature of a person with a dissociative disorder \u00e0 la M. Night Shyamalan\u2019s <\/span>Split<\/span><\/i>, replaced his cloak with a black suit and a boonie hat and introduced himself as \u201cJosh,\u201d apologizing for the past behavior of the “Incredible Hok.\u201d Josh, who frequently interrupted questions directed at others, was no better than his alter ego. In response to the last question\u2014again, not directed at him\u2014he cut in, ostensibly to apologize, then called Topuria\u2019s ex-wife a \u201cstripper from Miami.\u201d The second his mouth left the microphone, White\u2014whose podium was perfectly situated in front of Abraham Lincoln\u2019s statue\u2014concluded the press conference.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

The MMA promotion\u2019s \u201conce-in-a-generation\u201d event promised fighter meet-and-greets, a ceremonial weigh-in, and a live concert featuring a country-rock band. The weekend would end with a seven-bout fight card on the South Lawn, simulcast on Paramount subscribers’ screens across the Americas. Headlining the main card were two championship bouts: for the lightweight title, interim champion1<\/a><\/sup> <\/span> Justin \u201cthe Human Highlight\u201d Gaethje\u2014who once asked an opponent to break his nose so that the UFC would cover surgery for his deviated septum\u2014ended Topuria\u2019s undefeated streak by technical knockout after the fourth round. The heavyweight interim title, meanwhile, went to Ciryl \u201cBon Gamin\u201d Gane, who finished Pereira via knockout in the second round.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Every bout on the main card, save for Gane and Pereira\u2019s, featured an American-born fighter, many of whom had lobbied for an opportunity to fight on June 14, posting Instagram videos and giving podcast interviews about what an honor it would be to represent the country in such a historic event. Notably missing were the UFC greats (and liabilities) Jon Jones\u2014the youngest champion in history, whose near-perfect record shows one loss (for illegal elbows) and one no-contest2<\/a><\/sup><\/span> (for a doping violation)\u2014and Conor McGregor, who once flew from Dublin to New York to throw a dolly at a bus.<\/span><\/p>\n

The collaboration had been in the works since at least last July, when, at the kick-off event for America\u2019s yearlong birthday celebration, Trump had first teased the idea. \u201c<\/span>I even think we\u2019re going to have a UFC fight,\u201d he told the Des Moines crowd, <\/span>a plan later confirmed by White, as well as by Karoline Leavitt, who claimed the president was \u201cdead serious.\u201d Cue the dream cards and the campaigns. Jones renounced his two-month retirement from the Octagon, and McGregor\u2014who had visited the White House for Saint Patrick\u2019s Day four months prior\u2014announced his return after a five-year hiatus, even claiming he\u2019d signed a contract to fight in what was then being referred to as \u201cUFC White House.\u201d (No one believed him.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the following months, amid escalating military conflicts, details gradually emerged. The date moved up from Independence Day to Flag Day, or the U.S. Army\u2019s birthday, which this year also happened to be a Sunday,3<\/a><\/sup><\/span> Trump\u2019s eightieth birthday, and the first day of the G7 Summit. (France ultimately delayed the summit\u2019s schedule by a day to accommodate Trump.) There would be weigh-ins on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial; walkouts from the Oval Office to the Octagon. Renderings showed an outdoor arena on the South Lawn for an exclusive, invite-only crowd of five thousand, and a stadium in the Ellipse for up to eighty-five thousand members of the general public. The total production cost, upward of eight figures, would all be on the UFC\u2019s dime.<\/span><\/p>\n

White has always cast Trump as a kind of UFC savior. The organization, cofounded in 1993 by the entrepreneur Art Davie and the Brazilian jiujitsu Grand Master Rorion Gracie, changed hands twice within its first decade\u2014a side effect of John McCain\u2019s nationwide campaign to ban what he called \u201chuman cockfighting.\u201d Nearly insolvent by 2001, the franchise\u2019s beleaguered owners sold it off to a casino-executive couple and their childhood friend, Dana White. By then, the legal tides were starting to turn: the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board began creating a regulatory framework for the sport, in the process, permitting some fights in-state. One month after the sale, the new owners held their first event, UFC 30, at the only venue willing to host them: the Trump Taj Mahal. To hear White and Trump tell it, the<\/span> fight<\/span> launched a decades-long friendship that even survived the latter\u2019s short-lived partnership with a rival MMA promotion. But the truth is that Trump\u2019s casino had already hosted the UFC under its previous ownership, and, according to the former executive James Werme, UFC 30 had been arranged prepurchase. Also: Trump was absent from both events. But the watered-down story\u2014about White\u2019s ingenuity and Trump\u2019s generosity\u2014sounds better than the reality of their transactional partnership and the benefits they\u2019ve stood to gain from it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

President Donald Trump congratulates Kevin Holland after UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey, June 7, 2025. Official White House photograph by Daniel Torok, via Wikimedia Commons<\/a>. Public domain.<\/p><\/div>\n

Fast-forward to 2016, during the Republican National Convention, when White extolled the nominee\u2014who would later earn the dubious distinction of becoming the first sitting president to attend a UFC event while being impeached\u2014as a \u201cfighter who will fight for this country.\u201d (Also in 2016: the sale of the UFC to Ari Emanuel, Trump\u2019s former talent agent.) Eight years later, as the crowd celebrated Trump\u2019s second win in Palm Beach, White spoke again. By 2024, the UFC had already elbowed its way into the mainstream, having widened its audience when it became the first professional sports organization to bring back live events during the pandemic. After congratulating the president-elect, White thanked the podcasters who had endorsed Trump during his campaign, including the \u201cmighty and powerful\u201d Joe Rogan, a UFC commentator who\u2014you guessed it\u2014called the fights at UFC Freedom 250.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

White, who has repeatedly denied any political allegiances, has both transformed the UFC into something of a meeting place for Trump and intertwined it inextricably with members of his circle. The former DOGE<\/small> leader Elon Musk, for example, joined the board of directors of the UFC parent company Endeavor in 2021; that same year, the Oracle CEO Larry Ellison became a shareholder after the company\u2019s IPO. Four years later, Ellison\u2019s son, David, acquired Paramount Global with approval from Trump\u2019s FCC. Then the newly merged Paramount Skydance signed an exclusive, seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with the UFC\u2014a<\/span> risky<\/span> break with the pay-per-view model on which the game had always relied.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Last Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio\u2014who\u2019d attended UFC 327 in April in lieu of attending peace negotiations with Iran\u2014signed, in a televised ceremony, a vague memorandum of understanding with White to \u201cmark a new public-private partnership\u201d to \u201ccollaborate on the global growth of mixed martial arts,\u201d indicating that perhaps this will not be the last time we\u2019ll see the Claw at the White House. Two days later, the UFC commentator Daniel Cormier posted, then deleted, screenshots of direct messages from Donald Trump Jr., who had asked him for insider betting information\u2014namely, whom he was rooting for and which fighters had injuries. (\u201cI\u2019ll cut to the chase,\u201d he allegedly wrote. \u201cAre any of the fights tomorrow rigged?\u201d) The son of the president later denied having ever contacted Cormier.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

UFC Freedom 250 was a spectacle\u2014a \u201cgimmick,\u201d as Trump called it\u2014that gave two showmen the opportunity to publicly flex their might and turn a profit while doing so; one need only look at the UFC and the Trump Organization\u2019s websites, where you can purchase a gold medallion featuring Trump\u2019s profile or bid on the name card Hokit used in the very press conference from which he was thrown out. But commemorative memorabilia aside, all of this peddling and pontificating about the UFC\u2019s value would be for naught if Trump had no real skin in the game. Three months ago, as he talked up UFC Freedom 250, the president reportedly purchased \u201cbetween $15,001 and $50,000\u201d worth of stock in TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of Zuffa Boxing, the WWE, and, of course, the UFC.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a><\/span>\u00a0An interim champion is the temporary champion for a weight class when its current champion is presently unable to participate in a title bout. The two champions then face off in a \u201cunification bout,\u201d which determines the true, undisputed champion for their weight class. If, due to injury, inactivity, or an internal conflict with the promotion\u2019s leadership, a unification bout can\u2019t be produced, the inactive fighter will be stripped of their title and the active fighter will be promoted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a><\/span>\u00a0A no-contest decision is a bout result that occurs due to an unforeseen circumstance\u2014like a debilitating eye poke early in the bout, or, in Jones\u2019s case, misconduct discovered <\/span>after<\/span><\/i> he had already won the bout. It counts as neither a win nor a loss in the fighter\u2019s record. It also has its own category; Jones\u2019s record, with twenty-eight wins, one loss, and one NC, is 28-1-1.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a><\/span> All U.S.-based UFC events happen on Saturday evenings, with the main card of the UFC numbered events (previously pay-per-view) usually going live at 9 P.M.<\/small><\/span> EST, ending at 1 A.M.<\/small><\/span> the following morning. White, who has compared the UFC to the NFL, predicted \u201cSuper Bowl\u2013type numbers\u201d for UFC Freedom 250. According to White, the event, which unlike the Super Bowl was not available to watch on cable television\u2014and which ended at 1 A.M.<\/small><\/span> Monday morning\u2014\u201cexceeded\u201d all broadcasting expectations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
Stephanie Cuepo Wobby is a writer and a former U.S. Army combat medic. Her work has been published by <\/em>The Baffler,<\/em> The Point, and<\/em> Guernica, among other publications.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cUFC Freedom 250 was a spectacle\u2014a \u2018gimmick,\u2019 as Trump called it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2690,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[931],"tags":[142,68871,19381,22724,67827,14505,68873,68872,16531,15660,6849],"class_list":["post-174032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-sports","tag-america","tag-dana-white","tag-donald-trump","tag-elon-musk","tag-featured","tag-fourth-of-july","tag-larry-ellison","tag-marco-rubio","tag-sesquicentennials","tag-ufc","tag-white-house"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Ultimate Fighting Championship Goes to Washington by Stephanie Cuepo Wobby<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"June 16, 2026 \u2013 \u201cUFC Freedom 250 was a spectacle\u2014a \u2018gimmick,\u2019 as Trump called it.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Ultimate Fighting Championship Goes to Washington by Stephanie Cuepo Wobby\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"June 16, 2026 \u2013 \u201cUFC Freedom 250 was a spectacle\u2014a \u2018gimmick,\u2019 as Trump called it.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T14:00:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ufc-freedom-250-arena-white-house-dc-june-2026.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"853\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stephanie Cuepo Wobby\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Stephanie Cuepo Wobby\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Stephanie Cuepo Wobby\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7d34703fc346701c6a3b8a6887acd0f8\"},\"headline\":\"The Ultimate Fighting Championship Goes to Washington\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T14:00:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/\"},\"wordCount\":2049,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ufc-freedom-250-arena-white-house-dc-june-2026-1024x682.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"America\",\"Dana White\",\"Donald Trump\",\"Elon Musk\",\"Featured\",\"Fourth of July\",\"Larry Ellison\",\"Marco Rubio\",\"sesquicentennials\",\"UFC\",\"White House\"],\"articleSection\":[\"On Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/\",\"name\":\"The Ultimate Fighting Championship Goes to Washington by Stephanie Cuepo Wobby\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ufc-freedom-250-arena-white-house-dc-june-2026-1024x682.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T14:00:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"June 16, 2026 \u2013 \u201cUFC Freedom 250 was a spectacle\u2014a \u2018gimmick,\u2019 as Trump called it.\u201d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ufc-freedom-250-arena-white-house-dc-june-2026.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ufc-freedom-250-arena-white-house-dc-june-2026.webp\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":853,\"caption\":\"G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Ultimate Fighting Championship Goes to Washington\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7d34703fc346701c6a3b8a6887acd0f8\",\"name\":\"Stephanie Cuepo Wobby\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/67818fa6d488477b8452e95fee402acf2c6a8378cf90399ab9dcf847f9fb3fa5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/67818fa6d488477b8452e95fee402acf2c6a8378cf90399ab9dcf847f9fb3fa5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Stephanie Cuepo Wobby\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/scuepowobby\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Ultimate Fighting Championship Goes to Washington by Stephanie Cuepo Wobby","description":"June 16, 2026 \u2013 \u201cUFC Freedom 250 was a spectacle\u2014a \u2018gimmick,\u2019 as Trump called it.\u201d","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Ultimate Fighting Championship Goes to Washington by Stephanie Cuepo Wobby","og_description":"June 16, 2026 \u2013 \u201cUFC Freedom 250 was a spectacle\u2014a \u2018gimmick,\u2019 as Trump called it.\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2026-06-16T14:00:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":853,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ufc-freedom-250-arena-white-house-dc-june-2026.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Stephanie Cuepo Wobby","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Stephanie Cuepo Wobby","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/"},"author":{"name":"Stephanie Cuepo Wobby","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7d34703fc346701c6a3b8a6887acd0f8"},"headline":"The Ultimate Fighting Championship Goes to Washington","datePublished":"2026-06-16T14:00:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/"},"wordCount":2049,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ufc-freedom-250-arena-white-house-dc-june-2026-1024x682.webp","keywords":["America","Dana White","Donald Trump","Elon Musk","Featured","Fourth of July","Larry Ellison","Marco Rubio","sesquicentennials","UFC","White House"],"articleSection":["On Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/","name":"The Ultimate Fighting Championship Goes to Washington by Stephanie Cuepo Wobby","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ufc-freedom-250-arena-white-house-dc-june-2026-1024x682.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-16T14:00:54+00:00","description":"June 16, 2026 \u2013 \u201cUFC Freedom 250 was a spectacle\u2014a \u2018gimmick,\u2019 as Trump called it.\u201d","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ufc-freedom-250-arena-white-house-dc-june-2026.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ufc-freedom-250-arena-white-house-dc-june-2026.webp","width":1280,"height":853,"caption":"G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/06\/16\/the-ultimate-fighting-championship-goes-to-washington\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Ultimate Fighting Championship Goes to Washington"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7d34703fc346701c6a3b8a6887acd0f8","name":"Stephanie Cuepo Wobby","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/67818fa6d488477b8452e95fee402acf2c6a8378cf90399ab9dcf847f9fb3fa5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/67818fa6d488477b8452e95fee402acf2c6a8378cf90399ab9dcf847f9fb3fa5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Stephanie Cuepo Wobby"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/scuepowobby\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2690"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174032"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174050,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174032\/revisions\/174050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}