06/10/26 01:13:00
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06/10 13:08 CDT UFC fighters say they're honored to compete in front of
President Trump on card at the White House
UFC fighters say they're honored to compete in front of President Trump on card
at the White House
By DAN GELSTON
AP Sports Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) --- UFC heavyweight Josh Hokit was decked out in an American
flag bandana and American eagle gloves as he delivered vigorous trash talk
ahead of the company's White House debut.
Hokit wasn't about to modify his style on the microphone just because he will
fight Sunday night on the White House South Lawn in a mixed martial arts show
timed to coincide with President Donald Trump's 80th birthday and the
celebration of the nation's 250th anniversary.
"You'll never see me apologize for anything I do," Hokit said Wednesday.
Well, the heavyweight is in the right city for that declaration. He was one of
several fighters who added a dash of brashness and boldness in the nation's
capital just four days before the surreal juxtaposition of pummeling and
patriotism set for Trump and UFC boss Dana White's big-fight vision of UFC
Freedom 250.
Forget the Washington Monument. The claw, the temporary arena structure that
houses the eight-sided cage, is the buzziest landmark this week in DC.
Umbrellas were a necessary accessory around Washington early Wednesday and the
threat of heavier rain later in the week, which could dampen both a scheduled
press conference at the Lincoln Memorial as well as fight night, was the only
true concern ahead of the fight card.
White, who helped launch UFC into a global sports empire, insisted inclement
weather will not keep Sunday's spectacle from proceeding as scheduled.
"We're going to be good on Sunday," White said this week. "I don't care if it
snows, rains, we're going. Even lightning. You guys all played sports when you
were growing up. Whenever there was lightning, you'd sit the lightning out.
When it was over, you played. That's what we'll do."
While the South Lawn setting normally reserved for low-contact events like the
annual Easter Egg Roll is the real star of the show, there are two championship
fights set for the Paramount+ show.
In a card that has been panned by fans online as underwhelming, Brazil's Alex
Pereira will meet France's Ciryl Gane for the interim UFC heavyweight title.
Then Spanish-Georgian lightweight champion Ilia Topuria takes on interim champ
Justin Gaethje, one of just two Americans who currently hold even a share of
the UFC's 11 championship belts.
UFC middleweight Bo Nickal and 250 fighter was a three-time NCAA Division I
wrestling champion at Penn State and met Trump in 2019 at the White House at a
ceremony for collegiate national champions.
"The president said hello to all the teams," Nickal said Wednesday. "When he
got to us, he was all excited because he likes wrestlers. He talked to us for
maybe 10, 15 minutes because he likes chatting."
Nickal is set to fight on the main card Sunday against Philadelphia fighter
Kyle Daukaus. Nickal called fighting on the show a "massive opportunity," and
one he may have manifested back in that 2019 meeting.
"I told him at that time in 2019 that I was going to fight at UFC," Nickal
said. "He asked if I needed an agent. He's put in a good word for me,
obviously, getting on this card."
White, a long-time friend and former business associate of Trump from the days
when Boardwalk cards at Trump Taj Mahal lifted UFC into relevancy, brushed off
a federal lawsuit that seeks to halt the fight card.
The filing Saturday by the Public Integrity Project on behalf of two Virginia
residents contends the Trump administration's authorization of the event was
unlawful. The lawsuit says such approval violated National Park Service
regulations prohibiting sporting events on federal parklands, Congress did not
consent to the towering arch overlooking the event space and no environmental
review was conducted before the construction.
"We were expecting a lawsuit," White said. "We expected everything coming into
this event. We thought it would be sooner. We knew it was going to come. We
didn't know who or who, but we knew it was going to come."
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AP MMA: https://apnews.com/hub/mixed-martial-arts
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