President Donald Trump wants a UFC event to take place at The White House on July 4, 2026 and that time frame has raised a few eyebrows.

At an Iowa rally, Trump announced that next year’s Independence Day festivities will include having a few fights inside the octagon somewhere in the vicinity of The White House. Details are scarce, assuming such an event is even realistically in the works, but a lack of information hasn’t prevented fans and fighters from speculating on how the card might shape up.

Former UFC stars and current analysts Chael Sonnen and Daniel Cormier are excited about the idea, but aren’t entirely sure how an event of that magnitude can realistically come together in 12 months.

“What would the build-out be for that?” Sonnen said on Good Guy / Bad Guy. “I mean thinking about what [UFC event producers] [Craig] Borsari and [Zachary] Candito got to go through to bring in—I guess you’re going to raise a stadium because [Trump] stated a number of 20,000 people by the way. So now you’re talking about bringing in an amphitheater for one night only.

“It’s an interesting concept and I guess as time has gone by, I’ve taken it more serious. I took it almost like an announcement. I guess there’s an announcement that we’re going to do a UFC on the grounds of The White House. I guess?”

Cormier’s issues with the suggested event stem from previous experiences having Trump in attendance at UFC events. The president has long been a supporter of UFC CEO Dana White and his organization and he has made several appearances at UFC shows since winning the 2026 election.

Given the hoops Cormier and the rest of event staff typically have to jump through to ensure Trump’s safety, he has no idea how the president’s security team will be able to expand their responsibilities should they hit the planned attendance number.

“When he said they’re going to do a UFC event at The White House, I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s exciting,’” Cormier said. “Then I started to think for him to just come to a fight, all the hoops that we go through as people that work for the company. The Secret Service is in the arena the day before. We all have to do so many other things, background checks—because the president’s going to be there—as we should.

“Imagine trying to put 25,000 at The White House. They’re going to go through all those steps for all those people. I think that we as a country can do whatever we want. America. You know I love it, I love my red, white, and blue. I don’t know that the effort it will take to make that happen is going to be worth the squeeze almost. I just don’t know. And it’s going to be outside? In July? It gets hot in Washington in July.”

Trump’s announcement immediately piqued the interest of two of the biggest names in UFC history, Jon Jones and Conor McGregor. Jones recently retired, but reacted positively to the news of a UFC White House event and claimed he is re-entering the drug-testing pool to “keep everyone’s options open.” McGregor tweeted, “I would be honored” to be part of the historic card.

Both former champions would undoubtedly be welcome to participate, but their availability has been erratic over the past few years. Sonnen thinks McGregor, in particular, cannot be trusted to show up for such an important card.

“It also comes down to a trust issue,” Sonnen said. “They had a $25 million gate [for UFC 303] that was waiting. They were doing a press conference two miles from Conor’s home in Ireland when we get a picture of a discolored pinky toe, which may or may not be broken and may or may not have even belonged to Conor. Like, he doesn’t take a picture of a pinky toe and then he scrolls it up to himself, there’s just a picture of a purple toe and this whole event is off.

“At some point, if you’re Dana, you’re going, ‘Listen, you’re going to burn me once but you’re not going to get me twice and I’ve got to be able to trust the guys that I’m working with.’ That’s where things get tough. I do believe that Conor would like to fight if it was at The White House, but I think if they bring something special to The White House, I think you’re likely to have a title somewhere in there and Conor doesn’t qualify for that and Jones has openly said, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ If I’m to take these guys at their word, then I’ve got to call B.S.”

If it were up to Sonnen, the UFC would call upon fighters that are not only more reliable, but that have been more integral to building the promotion over the past few years.

“I think that the guys and gals from the locker room that have helped raise to this occasion, I believe those are the ones that you’re going to see fighting if they do set up an amphitheater in the back of The White House, which by the way is a tremendous ask of anybody,” Sonnen said. “Go build a venue? ‘Hey, look, see that over there. Build a venue. Oh, by the way, in the most high-security place ever.’

“Do you know how long it would take to get I-beams in? You’re trying to bring in your cement trucks, you’re trying to bring in your audio guy. Do you know what they would have to go through and they’re talking they’re going to have this done by July?”

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Look, no one should trust that the UFC White House thing will happen. Remember when we were promised “Fight Island” and just got the same Yas Arena they’d been going to?

That being said, this probably is real given the players involved. What a time to be alive. Nothing says one of the most important symbols in America like fist fights on the front lawn. — Meshew

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EXIT POLL

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