“Beyond the towering pillars and sacred halls of our nation’s capital lies something greater than marble, granite and limestone. Monuments built by a nation to honour greatness. And for more than three decades, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has built some of its own, not with chisels or stone but through unforgettable moments beneath the brightest lights in combat sports.”
For a few minutes, a promotional video on the UFC’s official website continues in the same portentous and faintly ludicrous vein, elliding the monumental acts of America’s pioneers with the mercenary derring-do of professional cage fighters. “Some celebrate pure artistry,” the voiceover continues, over an action sequence in which someone is being kicked in the head. We are made to believe that the sport of UFC is the true expression of American freedom.
And who can now doubt this? No less an exalted venue than the South Lawn of the White House was host this past weekend to an event called “UFC Freedom 250”, a series of mixed martial arts (MMA) fights in a specially erected, 92 foot-high, fenced arena that was to celebrate the forthcoming 250th anniversary of American independence, and also an event far more resonant and significant – the 80th birthday of Donald Trump.
