Rubio and Dana White sign deal bringing ‘UFC Diplomacy’ to State Dept. ahead of WH’s Freedom 250 event
OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
4:12 PM – Thursday, June 11, 2026
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President and CEO Dana White officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the State Department.
The public-private partnership enlists the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization into the State Department’s long-standing sports diplomacy portfolio, which already includes legacy sports like soccer, tennis and American football.
Under the new agreement, signed on Thursday, UFC athletes and coaches will serve as official U.S. sports ambassadors, traveling globally to lead training clinics, offer health and diet guidance, and promote leadership skills among international youth.
Essentially, the government is utilizing the UFC’s massive global popularity as a diplomatic tool to build bridges and connect with other cultures: using American influence to unite people, viewing combat sports as a universal language and running the entire initiative through the State Department’s cultural exchange bureau.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Rubio described the venture as the quintessential definition of American soft power, highlighting the sport’s global reach as a vehicle for cultural unity. White later echoed the sentiment, asserting that fighting transcends cultural and linguistic boundaries as a shared human trait.
The initiative operates under the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, mirroring a similar international expansion agreement struck between the administration and the National Football League (NFL) earlier this year.
The formalization of the deal arrives amid a highly anticipated UFC cage match scheduled to take place on the White House South Lawn this coming Sunday. The outdoor event, on President Trump’s birthday, will feature a 30-foot Octagon canvas, and the display is meant to kick off the country’s 250th independence anniversary — officially named “UFC Freedom 250.”
While critics have filed legal challenges labeling the event a “misuse of federal property,” Rubio dismissed the pushback, joking instead that the demand for the 4,000 temporary arena seats has generated a minor “diplomatic crisis” due to the overwhelming number of foreign dignitaries and world leaders requesting invitations to the fight.
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