U.S. President Donald Trump had the combat sports world doing a double take late Thursday when he said he's considering holding a UFC event on the grounds of the White House in Washington, D.C., in 2026 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor expressed a desire to compete at the hypothetical event with a series of social media posts Friday.
“Excited with President Trump announcing a UFC fight event at the White House,” McGregor wrote in a Happy 4th of July message. “I would be honoured! Count me in!”
The UFC has not made any official announcement about a White House card and the logistics of such an event would be complicated, however both UFC president Dana White and the organization reposted a video clip of Trump saying there’s available land to use and that it would be a “full fight” with 20,000 to 25,000 people attending.
McGregor shared several images on social media, one was a photo of him and Trump in the Oval Office, another was an AI generated image of him facing off with Michael Chandler on the White House lawn. McGregor and Chandler were previously scheduled to fight one another at UFC 303 in 2024 before an injury forced McGregor to withdraw from the matchup.
He also suggested White “loves” the idea of him returning to competition at such an event.
McGregor attended the U.S. presidential inauguration in January as did a handful of other prominent UFC figures such as Joe Rogan and Jon Jones.
The Irish star was a guest at the White House in March on St. Patrick’s Day. While he was there, he answered questions from gathered media and later met with Trump to discuss politics. McGregor has expressed interest in running for office in Ireland in recent years.
McGregor, who turns 37 later this month, has made just four UFC appearances since winning the lightweight title in 2016. He also fought Floyd Mayweather Jr., in a lucrative boxing match in 2017, launched an Irish whiskey brand, co-starred in a Road House movie alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, and became a part-owner of a bare-knuckle boxing organization. McGregor has also faced various legal issues, including a sexual assault lawsuit.
He sustained a broken leg in his most recent UFC appearance, which was a 2021 loss to Dustin Poirier and has not fought since.
Trump has been a regular attendee at UFC events, as recently as one month ago at UFC 316 in New Jersey, and has a friendship with White and others within the UFC organization.
The UFC was one of the listed corporate sponsors of Trump’s military parade last month. White attended that parade instead of a UFC Fight Night event in Atlanta that same day.
A White House spokesperson said they had no details to share beyond the President's announcement. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later added Trump was “dead serious” about the plans.
— With files from Associated Press
