Ufc Landed A $7.7bn Deal With Paramount. But Is Dana White’s Trump Bond A Liability?

Forget for a infinitesimal nan stereotype that MMA athletes and their fans are All-American barroom fighters. The MMA organization is acold much divers and acold much cerebral than nan casual onlooker realizes.

Has Dana White forgotten that?

The UFC president has agelong sought to grow nan sport’s entreaty to arsenic galore demographics arsenic possible. But successful nan past fewer years, he has stake large connected a tight affiliation pinch Donald Trump, who has been perfectly contented to revel successful nan adulation of 1 conception of nan organization while heaping scorn upon each others. White has campaigned for Trump, welcomed him to respective UFC events and hasn’t instantly smacked down nan conception of holding a UFC card astatine nan White House.

On nan surface, that mightiness look logical. MMA civilization is intertwined pinch bro culture, and bros are considered nan antithesis of “woke” liberalism.

But it’s not that simple. Consider a startling fact: while Maga champions an “America First” ideology, nan UFC is simply a paragon of globalism. Of nan 11 reigning UFC champions, only 1 is American – Kayla Harrison, thriving successful an statement White erstwhile insisted would exclude women. Both Australia and Georgia (the country) boast doubly arsenic galore champions arsenic nan UFC’s location country. The only loop firmly held by US fighters is nan unofficial ‘BMF’ (Baddest Motherfucker) belt. White invented this to reward charismatic fighters who put connected awesome shows. While it’s a clever measurement to promote characteristic and panache, it besides seems for illustration a DEI programme to guarantee US fighters stay salient successful nan UFC pantheon.

So nan UFC roster is much world than ever. But UFC fighters person never fresh neatly into categories.

This diverseness was a hallmark of nan reality show that collapsed nan UFC into nan mainstream, The Ultimate Fighter. The casts included cerebral chess players, devout Christians and personification who brought a compass to guarantee that his furniture would look north, and different who fled nan show to reassure his woman that rumors she saw online weren’t true.

And nan UFC evolved successful ways that mightiness beryllium considered “progressive.” Cain Velasquez didn’t suffer immoderate noticeable instrumentality support successful 2010 erstwhile he sported a “Brown Pride” tattoo crossed his thorax and admitted that his begetter had immigrated illegally. (Velasquez has since been sentenced to prison for issues unrelated to immigration.) After opposing nan thought of female fighters for galore years, White threw unfastened nan Octagon doorway to Ronda Rousey successful a 2013 bout against Liz Carmouche, who was openly gay. White powerfully supported Carmouche and moreover gave an impassioned plea to legalize cheery matrimony wherever it wasn’t already recognized – a position he stated good before a bid of landmark US ultimate tribunal decisions upheld that right. Four years later, UFC combatant Jessica Andrade proposed to her girlfriend successful her postfight question and reply successful nan Octagon. While nan UFC sold Pride Month cogwheel and gave proceeds to an LGBTQIA+ statement successful Nevada, outspoken Trump protagonist Colby Covington emerged arsenic 1 of nan sport’s biggest villains.

Still, nan UFC’s superior demographic of young big men proved to beryllium a decisive force for Trump’s return to nan presidency. This group overlaps importantly pinch nan assemblage for UFC commentator Joe Rogan’s celebrated podcast, and Rogan – who felt ostracized by nan near aft touting scientifically unsound Covid treatments – endorsed Trump past year.

But that was November. Fast guardant to this summer, and this demographic has veered sharply against Trump. Rogan himself has surgery pinch nan president complete tariffs, deportations and nan Epstein files. Last month, Rogan told podcast impermanent James Talarico, a Texas Democrat, that he should tally for nan White House. There’s a lawsuit to beryllium made that if nan Kamala Harris run had managed to get her connected Rogan’s podcast past fall, we would person a different president today.

The UFC, meanwhile, is still a beardown marque but possibly not nan basking spot it was a fewer years ago. Last week’s Disney net report made a little reference to “lower Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view fees owed to little mean buys per event.” The conflict crippled tends to beryllium cyclical, driven by large personalities for illustration Rousey, Jon Jones and Conor McGregor, each of whom person either near nan athletics aliases gone done a prolonged play of inactivity. It’s reliable to ideate existent ray heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev reaching nan level of fame of Forrest Griffin, Rampage Jackson aliases Chuck Liddell. While we can’t really quantify nan effect of nan Trump lovefest connected nan UFC’s popularity, nan statement intelligibly can’t spend to alienate nan 60% aliases truthful of nan organization that disapproves of Trump’s presidency frankincense far.

Perhaps this is 1 logic why nan UFC has conscionable opted for a caller media deal that breaks from their pay-per-view exemplary successful bid to get wider exposure. “This displacement successful distribution strategy will unlock greater accessibility and discoverability for sports fans,” said nan property merchandise announcing nan seven-year, $7.7bn deal. Some conflict cards will beryllium connected web TV, and others will beryllium free to subscribers of their streaming partner.

That streaming partner, though, is Paramount, which has besides drawn nan ire of galore US viewers done a bid of moves that look to beryllium a capitulation to nan president’s desire to power nan media. First, Paramount settled a lawsuit complete nan editing of a Kamala Harris interview, a suit deemed by galore ineligible scholars arsenic alternatively elemental for Paramount to win, astatine nan aforesaid clip that nan media conglomerate sought authorities support for a merger. Second, aft TV big Stephen Colbert criticized his genitor institution for settling nan suit, Paramount announced that his show will end successful 2026, ostensibly for financial reasons moreover though it is nan highest-rated late-night show. (Fox News Channel claims its show Gutfeld! has higher ratings, but it airs earlier than nan accepted late-night model that starts astatine 11.30pm Eastern time.)

Still, nan determination to move distant from nan pay-per-view exemplary tin only beryllium seen arsenic a motion that nan UFC feels nan request to make its large shelter a spot bigger arsenic it faces nan difficult situation of keeping US fans willing successful a athletics successful which American athletes are acold from dominant. Typically, US sports broadcasters gravitate to events successful which US athletes are faring well, which is why Olympic sum focuses acold much attraction connected swimming and snowboarding than, say, array tennis aliases biathlon.

White and Trump were ever an overseas match. Trump was progressive pinch Affliction, a rival MMA statement of nan precocious 2000s that White fought pinch nan venom of nan Trump administration’s attacks connected Harvard and nan media. Trump has bullied veterans, making love backmost to erstwhile he said he didn’t see John McCain a warfare leader because he likes “people who weren’t captured’ and continuing pinch Ice arrests of veterans successful his 2nd word and a caller awkward infinitesimal successful which he turned attraction to himself astatine a ceremonial honoring Purple Heart recipients; White and nan UFC are staunch supporters of nan Wounded Warrior Project and different veterans’ groups. White is an affable philanthropist; Trump utilized costs from his ain foundation connected a image of himself and his statesmanlike campaign.

We astir apt won’t spot White publically repudiate Trump, a move that wouldn’t beryllium good pinch a sizable information of UFC’s audience. But complete nan years, White has shrewdly expanded nan UFC fanbase, and he would dearly emotion for his athletics to beryllium nan biggest successful nan world. White has already pronounced that his engagement pinch authorities ends pinch Trump, telling The New Yorker past twelvemonth that: “I’m ne'er fucking doing this again. I want thing to do pinch this shit. It’s gross. It’s disgusting. I want thing to do pinch politics.”

White has changed his mind astir galore things complete nan years. He brought successful Kimbo Slice not agelong aft denigrating his fighting skills. He brought women into nan cage. But those moves were driven by celebrated uprisings, and White is almost ever consenting to springiness fans what they want. While overmuch of nan state watches successful scary arsenic Medicaid is slashed, Gaza’s suffering gets worse by nan week, nan system teeters connected nan brink, and nan White House is successful situation mode trying to deflect from nan Epstein case, nan clamor to make White reassert his position astatine Trump’s broadside will surely beryllium muted.