Next Independence Day, the White House is becoming “As Real As It Gets” – if the president’s plans come to fruition.
At the end of this month, UFC CEO Dana White is expected to fly out to Washington D.C. to begin plans for next July 4. He said he’s working with President Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka to set up a cage match at the White House.
White confirmed that plans for the event are underway Tuesday on “CBS Mornings” and said that he has been working with the president and Ivanka to set things up. Ivanka, 43, was formerly an executive vice president of the Trump Organization and a former White House advisor. In recent years, she started the Plant Harvest produce company. The Palm Beach Post has also reported that Ivanka is a blue belt student student of jiu-jitsu, a Japanese martial art that influences UFC fighting.
White told “CBS Mornings” anchors that the president told him “I want Ivanka in the middle of this,” when they discussed a UFC match at the White House.
“I talked to him last night, him being the president, and I’m flying out there at the end of this month, and I’m going to sit down and walk him through, you know all the plans and the renderings,” White said.
Per its website, UFC, which stands for “Ultimate Fighting Champion” is now the largest Par-Per-View event provider in the world. It began in 1993 as a mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. In the early 2000s, it was restructured as a highly organized and controlled combat sport. Matches are held in a fenced in area, or cage, called “The Octagon” that is a hallmark of the brand.
Today the organization is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., and it hosts more than 40 events annually. Trump was photographed at a UFC event in late 2023, accompanied by media personality Tucker Carlson and musician Kid Rock.
While a UFC match at the White House might seem like an incongruous pairing, sports – including combat sports – events have been held at or near the White House before. According to the White House Historical Association, amateur and professional baseball games were often played on the grounds just south of the White House, now known as the Ellipse. During tenure of President Theodore Roosevelt, he often held boxing matches at the White House, USA Today confirmed in a 2021 fact check article.
However, this would be the first UFC match at the presidential residence.
UFC’s White said the July 4 event marking the 250th birthday of the U.S. is “definitely going to happen,” and hinted that it would be broadcast live on CBS. Paramount, the parent company of CBS, announced a seven-year rights agreement to become the exclusive home for UFC events in the U.S. this week.
Last week, Paramount and Skydance Corporation a company led by David Ellison – son of top GOP donor Larry Ellison – announced a merger. That announcement followed the news that CBS plans to end “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and rumors that it was cancelled over Colbert’s criticism of the Trump administration. Trump himself criticized Gayle King, one of the “CBS Mornings” hosts who interviewed White this week, in a recent Truth Social post.
White told the hosts that it is too early to determine who the fighters in the White House UFC match might be.