On Sunday night, Donald Trump hosted the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House. It was just as stupid, tacky and gross as everyone expected. The only silver lining is that very few people were actually paying attention. It fell on the same weekend as all of these things: the Knicks clinching the NBA Championship; the middle of baseball season; the opening week of the World Cup; the Stanley Cup final, and like five other major things. Most people only learned of UFC champion Josh Hokit’s moronic statements until the next day. On Sunday night, Hokit won a fight and then he said to the sparse crowd, “Michelle Obama is a man, am I right, America?” It was vile. Josh Hokit is vile. Well, UFC boss Dana White knows that all of this actually hurts the brand. White made the extraordinary step of walking back Hokit’s statement. Meanwhile, the White House still hasn’t done the same.
UFC boss Dana White spoken out against against Josh Hokit after the fighter made disparaging and false remarks about Michelle Obama during the White House’s UFC Freedom 250 event.
“I understand that the Obamas are public figures but I’m completely against saying nasty and false things about people’s families,” White wrote Time magazine in a text message. “Everyone knows my position on free speech but I hate that kind of nonsense.”
After winning his heavyweight fight against Derrick Lewis on the White House lawn, Hokit was interviewed on the Paramount+ livestream by Joe Rogan. Unexpectedly, Hokit shouted into the microphone, “And lastly, Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?,” drawing cheers and screams from the live audience. The incendiary remarks were roundly criticized on social media but went unaddressed throughout the remainder of the broadcast. Rogan appeared flustered and backed away from the fighter, only saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, Josh Hokit.”
White House spokesman Steven Cheung dodged a question about Hokit’s comment, saying, “He had a great win last night. He showed toughness and the ability to pressure his opponent both on his feet and on the ground,” according to CNN’s Jake Tapper.
The bloody spectacle — a celebration of America’s 250th anniversary that also happened to land on Donald Trump’s 80th birthday — was otherwise largely avoidant of partisan politics. UFC athletes (both from the U.S. and other countries) walked out the White House and into the octagon, with Trump, the First Lady Melania and UFC CEO Dana White sitting cageside. The fighters marched alongside U.S. veterans and first responders as people dressed as Revolutionary War soldiers stood guard. The Zac Brown Band performed the national anthem.
The whole thing is just… ugh. How far we’ve fallen. Culturally, politically. The crassness at every level, spurred on by Donald Trump. When Dana White sounds more politically astute than literally anyone in the White House, it’s a huge problem for our country. White also said, in a press conference on Monday, that he’ll never do any of this again – he’ll never stage a UFC fight on the White House lawn.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, screencap courtesy of Paramount+ and social media.
