The Fourth of July fireworks won’t be the only excitement in D.C. in 2026, as UFC president Dana White — longtime pal of President Donald Trump — says the mixed martial arts powerhouse is gearing up to stage a fight on the White House lawn. Let’s unpack what’s to come in another one of Trump’s “you can’t make this up” ideas.
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The fan-favorite Ultimate Fighting Championship is set to kick off on July 4, 2026, as a celebration for America’s 250th birthday — marking the first-ever MMA event at the presidential residence. Ivanka Trump, who’s largely been MIA, is also stepping back into the spotlight with her dad to help pull off the star spangled brawl.
And just when you were starting to think, “There’s no way this is for real,” Dana White confirmed with CBS that this bizarre event is on and popping. “It is definitely going to happen,” White confirmed, per CBS Mornings.
The UFC president and CEO also confirmed that he’s set to meet with his buddy Trump and his daughter, Ivanka, later on this month to walk him through some renderings to confirm what the president “wants and doesn’t want.” Not only that, but a source close to the planning team confirmed that the slug fest is indeed expected to take place.
“When he called me and asked me to do it, he said, ‘I want Ivanka in the middle of this,’” White said. “So Ivanka reached out to me, and her and I started talking about the possibilities, where it would be and, you know, I put together all the renderings.”
While White isn’t sure just yet who is set to be on the fight card, it seems he’s not worried at all about it, as he poked, “Everybody wants to be on this card,” with an optimistic smile.
That said, not everyone on social media is as optimistic about the plans. Some fans on social media credited the move as unprecedented, while others saw the president’s move as a “travesty” and a “clown show circus.”
Whether you see it as a bizarre spectacle or an unprecedented political move, one thing’s for sure — come July 4, 2026, the White House is set to trade handshakes for haymakers. And in true Trump-era fashion, it’ll be less about unity and more about putting on a show nobody asked for — but everyone will be talking about.
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