Dana White denies America 250 UFC fight at White House will be 'political,' 'not at all' about politics
UFC President and CEO Dana White insisted that the upcoming plans for a UFC fight at the White House for the America 250 celebration in June is not "political."
"Not at all, no," White told TIME Magazine on Tuesday. "Well, it’s on the birthday of America! I mean, it’s the 250th birthday of America. What better place to celebrate it than the White House?"
He continued, "And the thing that you have to understand about me is, I respect whoever is the President of the United States. It isn’t about red or blue or politics for me. I’m friends with people on the far left, and I’m friends with people on the far right, and I consider myself right down the middle."
White elaborated on his comments, arguing that this would not go against his claim that he wants "nothing to do with politics" after endorsing President Donald Trump in 2024.
"You can make anything political if you want to," White said. "I love this country like anybody on the left loves this country. I love this country like anybody on the right loves this country. This is basically me spending a sh-tload of money to celebrate the 250th birthday of America, with America and the rest of the world."
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White has maintained an ongoing friendship with Trump for decades, particularly after Trump supported UFC by holding events at his casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This friendship led to White eventually speaking in support of Trump at the Republican National Convention in 2024.
"Everybody said, ‘Don’t do it. Don’t do it,’" White told TIME Magazine. "It was about more than ‘You don’t want to get into politics.’ The bigger one was ‘He’s never gonna win.’ And I was like, ‘Well, whether he wins or not, the guy’s been a good friend to me.’"
In 2025, White revealed that Trump was the one who came up with the idea for a UFC event at the White House in honor of the America 250 celebration.
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"When you walk around the White House with him, he's so proud of the White House, and he loves it so much, and he loves America. He believes that the White House belongs to the people of America," White said. "He wants to do more things like kids coming in doing Easter egg hunts, things around Christmas and special events…That's his thing. He wants to bring more Americans to the White House. His thing was, ‘This is your house.’ I was lucky he said, ‘We should do a fight here.’"
The "UFC Freedom 250" fight is scheduled to take place outside the White House on June 14. This would coincide with Flag Day as well as Trump's 80th birthday.