Secretary of State Marco Rubio and UFC CEO Dana White are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding this week establishing a public-private partnership between the State Department and the mixed martial arts organization.
The agreement, scheduled for Thursday, will create what officials described as a sports diplomacy initiative aimed at enhancing U.S. outreach efforts and supporting the global growth of mixed martial arts.
The deal comes days before President Donald Trump hosts a UFC event on White House grounds.
The planned event, scheduled for June 14, is expected to feature seven mixed martial arts fights in connection with celebrations marking the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The partnership represents a new use of mixed martial arts as part of U.S. diplomatic strategy. Neither the State Department nor UFC had publicly released additional details about the agreement as of Monday.
The announcement also comes as a federal lawsuit seeks to block the upcoming White House UFC event. The lawsuit, filed by the Public Integrity Project on behalf of two Virginia residents, argues that approval of the event violated federal regulations and failed to undergo required reviews.
The White House rejected those claims, calling the lawsuit “an obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory” effort to stop the event.
Construction crews have already begun building the venue, including an octagon-shaped cage on the South Lawn.
