Many on the left, and even some who “claim” to be conservative are absolutely aghast at the mere thought of UFC 250. You see, that kind of spectacle is just. not. done.

A president celebrating his birthday in such a grandiose way as to draw comparisons with a Roman emperor at the Coliseum seems questionable to many.

“The optics are terrible, and it looks completely tone-deaf to the struggles of the American people,” said Todd Belt, a professor of political science who leads the political management program at the George Washington University.

Belt said that polling around the time of the 2024 election had indicated that “the number one issue that vaulted [Trump] into office was the economy. He has really taken his eye off the ball here.”

Guess what? Not one single taxpayer dime was used to create the setting and put on the show. Not. One. 

Which I think, a great many Americans would appreciate. Secondly, what all of the elites clutching pearls forget is that a significant portion of the country LIKES UFC cage fighting! The ratings are huge and the crowd attendance is nearly always to full capacity. 

But that doesn’t matter to the elitists who are throwing tantrums. The ones who like UFC are all of us rubes and peons in the flyover states. This kind of spectacle is taking place involving those who are ‘not our kind, dears.’ 

I’ve never been to a UFC fight, but I once went to a monster truck/motocross rally in rural Maine and saw a part of America I’d never experienced before. Trump is opening the White House to those Americans and it’s awesome. If you’re offended by that you may be an elitist snob. https://t.co/g9XPRdl4YG

— Marc Thiessen (@marcthiessen) June 14, 2026

The whole event area is really a pretty interesting set up. 

Furthermore, many are trying to claim that no other President has done anything like this ever before. Uh huh… here comes President Theodore Roosevelt!

The UFC just released an AI promo for the White House event featuring Theodore Roosevelt pic.twitter.com/pSEII6Jpaw

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) June 13, 2026

The backstory of all of this is even better. Teddy Roosevelt was a boxer, trained in mixed martial arts, wrestled, and more. 

For the majority of his political career as the Governor of New York (1899-1900), 25th Vice President of the United States (1901) and 26th President of the United States (1901-1909), Roosevelt favored grappling. As Governor, he hired the then American middleweight wrestling champion, who was also in Albany at the time, to train him three or four times a week.

“Roosevelt, who was in his early 40s at the time (nearly double the age of the wrestler), looked forward to his training sessions so much that he eventually bought a wrestling mat for the workout room,” Jon Finkel writes in Teddy: Roosevelt: The U.S. President That Was Always Tough And Ready To Throw Down for The Post Game. “While neither combatant had a problem with the wrestling mat, Roosevelt’s Comptroller did, and he refused to audit the bill for the mat, claiming that wrestling wasn’t ‘proper Gubernatorial amusement.’”

The Comptroller suggested a billiards table, but Roosevelt wasn’t interested and continued sparring with the champ and whoever else would take him on. After one particularly brutal battle in which Roosevelt managed to rough up both his opponent (a friend of the wrestler’s who was a rower by trade) and himself, the Governor decided that it would be best if he stopped boxing for the rest of his term.

Once he was in the White House, though, Roosevelt was back to doing whatever he wanted athletically, proving that wrestling, boxing, and judo were all proper Presidential amusement. “Roosevelt wasn’t exactly shy about his hobby,” Jenny Drapkin write in Theodore Roosevelt: Mojo in the Dojo for Mental Floss. He lined the White House basement with training mats, and he practiced with anyone who was willing to tussle—including his wife and sister-in-law. Once, he even brightened a boring state luncheon by throwing the Swiss minister to the floor and demonstrating a judo hold, to the delight of his guests.”

“He voluntarily subjected himself to a staggering number of brutal sparring sessions with championship-caliber fighters,” writes Finkel. “Boxers; wrestlers; martial artists—it didn’t matter to Roosevelt. If they’d be willing to punch him in the face or pin him to the ground, he’d take them on. He felt it was the only way he could maintain his ‘natural body prowess.’”

Even then there were sneers and cries of ‘this is just not done’ from elites and political foes. Of course, when reminded of Roosevelt today …the only response is, at least he didn’t create a circus on the White House lawn! 

But Joe did. 

https://twitter.com/honeyybomb/status/2065845935293276234

Exactly. Hosting a big transgender pride fest on the White House lawn is completely acceptable. UFC cage fighting, Ring Girls, and motorcycle exhibitions are … NOT. 

As I said, the tantrums, some of which are accompanied by lawsuits, are comical. By the way, Marjorie Taylor Greene can put a sock in it. 

It's kind of amazing that for 2 years roving gangs of leftists walked around society tearing down public monuments and lighting things on fire, and it got absorbed into the background of society and treated as though it were just another unremarkable feature of everyday life. https://t.co/39u6R5gES4

— Wokal Distance (@wokal_distance) June 14, 2026

Yes, tearing down monuments is ok because reasons. A UFC fight that is popular with the rubes and peons across the flyover states is not. 

Feature Photo Credit: UFC 250 Ring and White House via White House on X, cropped and modified