When The Wall Street Journal asked White what connects MAGA and the UFC, he gave a one-word answer: “Testosterone.”
Okay, sure. Also, Trump and White have been friends for years, and their business and political interests are deeply intertwined.
In the early aughts, mixed martial arts was banned in most states and the UFC was struggling to book big venues. (A few years earlier, Senator John McCain had famously denounced the sport as “human cockfighting.”) But Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City agreed to host UFC events and celebrity businessman attended them, giving the organization exposure and legitimacy.
“Nobody took us seriously,” White has said repeatedly. “Except Donald Trump.”
As the UFC’s popularity skyrocketed and Trump entered politics, the two men occasionally supported each other’s ventures (for example, one of the UFC’s biggest stars appeared on The Celebrity Apprentice, and White spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention). But Trump made White and the UFC central to his 2024 bid in an attempt to attract young male voters. White connected Trump with “manosphere” podcasters and influencers, and the CEO played a visible role in the campaign, speaking at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally and his 2024 victory party.
White isn’t wrong about “testosterone” — or, rather, hypermasculinity — being a big part of all this. As Karim Zidan explained in The Guardian, UFC White House is the “natural climax of a partnership in which the UFC has become the stage for Maga mythology”:
Fascist Italy used rallies, parades and sports events to project strength and unity. Sports, especially combat sports, were used as tools to cultivate Mussolini’s ideal masculinity and portray Italy as a strong and powerful nation. Similarly, Trump has relied on the UFC to project his tough-guy image, and to celebrate his brand of nationalistic masculinity. From name-dropping champions who endorse him to suggesting a tournament that would pit UFC fighters against illegal immigrants, Trump has repeatedly found ways to make UFC-style machismo a part of his political brand.
