UFC's White House weekend has become the ultimate Rorschach test for America

WASHINGTON — This weekend is either the high-water mark of the UFC's existence or an affront to the nation, but in any case it's a reality check for those of us who come from the MMA side of the ledger. When I mentioned as a matter of fact that Sunday night's headliner Ilia Topuria was born in Georgia to my Uber driver on the ride over to The Ellipse for UFC Freedom 250's Fan Fest, he said, "Oh yeah, same state as Jimmy Carter." 

The thing is, he'd told me he was a UFC fan. After that I told him I thought Topuria came from just outside of Augusta, specifically.

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This whole thing has been a strange experience if I'm being honest. The UFC doesn't fit squarely here in Washington, and neither do the facts. It's either a celebration of America's 250th birthday or President Donald Trump's 80th birthday or Flag Day or all the above, and everyone is arguing about the role Trump played to the UFC's ultimate success. 

That's because everyone, it seems, is paying attention, yet nobody's quite sure how to feel. Even The New Yorker ran a cover, by the artist Barry Blitt, of Trump sleeping through a battle between Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Octagon. That drew a nice laugh from some of the folks at the media center at the JW Marriott, headquarters to the thousand or so media folks who made the trip yet didn't gain access to the South Lawn. 

The many thousands of fans who gathered at the 52-acre Ellipse for the opening day of Saturday's fan fest, however, didn't seem to care one way or another, and if they noticed the clusters of armed military personnel on security detail — or the many police at the entrances, or the snipers on the White House rooftops — well, let's just say they were plenty distracted.

That's because Daniel Cormier was taking off his shirt on the main stage in the heat of the long afternoon, obliging a request that came in from the crowd. No dollar bills were flung his way, but you should've heard the roar. Everybody loves a good sport, and "DC" is just that. He hosted a discussion panel with Chris Weidman, Kayla Harrison and Carlos Ulberg, along with WWE stars Charlotte Flair and The Miz to kick off Saturday's festivities.

Daniel Cormier is having a good old time ahead of UFC Freedom 250.Rey Del Rio via Getty Images

In some ways, the UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest was arranged like the UFC's version of Lalapalooza, with a main stage set up south of the White House, and the 92-foot "Claw" structure standing just beyond it like the Colosseum in Rome. There were people waiting in long lines to pose for pictures with fighters like Glover Teixeira and Michael Johnson and Stephen Thompson at designated meet-and-greet huts. The beer lines were shorter than the water lines, as water was free while beer was $12 for a Bud Light ($14 for a Kona Big Wave). 

The queue corrals at the merch booths snaked onto the open grass, as swag sales were booming.

It was a perfectly contained pandemonium, yet it was only a test run. On Sunday, as the UFC Freedom 250 card plays out across the street, they are anticipating as many as 85,000 people at The Ellipse to watch on a big screen. Or so the speculation goes, as these facts are also elusive. There were machines set up to gauge your punching power. There were mechanical rams, which were much like the mechanical bulls you might see in cowboy bars only these ones were sponsored by Dodge Ram. There were bleachers set up for those media members who didn't make the South Lawn cut, yet don't want to sit in a hotel either. 

Those bleachers are metal and open to the elements. 

When Heidi Androl asked if the crowd had any questions during a Zuffa Boxing news conference featuring Conor Benn, cruiserweight Jai Opetaia — who'd flown in from Australia for the occasion — and new Zuffa signee Nasheed "Sugar Sheed" Smith, one fan yelled out "Justin Gaethje." 

Another wanted to know if Benn would fight Eddie Hearn, his former promoter. 

"No, it's all love," Benn said.

"When a latter-day Liber de Spectaculis is written," a piece in The Atlantic read, claiming that Trump's UFC birthday bash lacked the ambition of the Colosseum days, "Sunday's events will be described as falling well short of the one benchmark that seems to matter to the president: talis qualem mundus numquam vidit — 'such as the world has never seen.'" 

Meanwhile, on the main stage Jeff Novitzky was honoring the clean athletes who had endured 50+ tests in the fight careers, yet never popped hot for anything. Namely, Drew Dober and UFC champion Mackenzie Dern. While they were being awarded jackets, a fan yelled out, "get off the stage, you bald bastard!" while his girlfriend filmed him.

The attitudes about the UFC being in the nation's capital are all over the place.

The New York Times wrote that come Sunday the UFC "will hold the octagonal cage for seven Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts, where half-naked men will punch, kick and choke each other into submission," which read like an article from 2001. 

Maybe the sport hasn't come as far as we thought.

Later on, a bald eagle flew the length of The Ellipse and alighted on the gloved hand of a handler, and the ceremonial weigh-ins were among the best the UFC has ever done. Each fighter had their own video package, many talking about second chances, hardships and patriotism. Joe Rogan, who doesn't love the idea of a UFC occurring outdoors, emceed the whole thing.

Fireworks explode above the UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest on The Ellipse ahead of Sunday's fights.Al Drago via Getty Images

The Washington Post called this Dana White's magnum opus, and placed Rogan into the general air of confusions.

"[White] is also arguably the most powerful man at the intersection of sports and American politics, a status he unlocked in 2016, when he became among the first public figures to endorse Trump's candidacy," the piece read. "Since then, White, who says he identifies as 'an '80s Democrat,' has spoken at three Republican National Conventions and played a critical role in turning out young, male voters for Trump, including convincing podcaster and UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan to endorse him in 2024. If the 'manosphere' has a spiritual leader, it may be White."

After the ceremonial weigh-ins they blasted Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA," as fireworks went off in the background. Then the Zac Brown Band played a concert to close the show.

It was an American celebration, alright, unlike anything we're likely to see the UFC ever do again. It's either the high-water mark of the promotion's existence or an affront to the nation, but it was definitely a celebration. 

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