Newly installed FBI Director Kash Patel declared this week that he wants the bureau to partner with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), part of a massive overhaul of the agency championed by President Donald Trump.
During a teleconference with the leaders of the 55 FBI field offices, Patel said he is interested in working with the UFC to create physical fitness programs for FBI agents. The UFC’s headquarters are in Las Vegas, where Patel lives.
UFC CEO Dana White was a major supporter of President Trump during the 2024 election. His wealth is around $500 million. He donated $100,000 to a GoFundMe campaign set up by Trump for Hurricane Helene victims in October 2024.
He also donated $50,000 to victims of the Butler, PA assassination attempt against then-candidate Trump. He has donated significant sums to various PACs and state Republican parties.
White also accompanied Trump on stage during his speech in Florida after his November victory. Trump even mentioned White during the speech, saying he “helped [White] out a little bit” when he could not find other people interested in hosting UFC fights decades earlier.
Trump even let White take the mic during the victory speech.
White and Trump have been long-time friends and allies. In 2001, Trump promoted the UFC—at a time when many states and municipalities rejected the brutal sport and refused to sponsor its fights. White has often said about Trump’s early support: “Nobody took us seriously except Donald Trump.”
White spoke at the RNC in support of Trump in 2016, 2020, and 2024. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump appointed White to a group of industry leaders tasked with revving up the economy.
Trump attended a UFC fight several days after winning the presidential election in November. The fight was at Madison Square Garden, where the then-president-elect sat in the front row with White and Elon Musk on either side.
Promoting the UFC within a government agency may sound like something that is only possible in the age of Trump. However, former FBI special agent and ABC news contributor Rich Frankel said on Thursday that bringing in outside specialists to improve physical fitness for agents is relatively normal in the agency.
However, Frankel raised a caveat, saying, “I don’t want UFC to take over the gym” at the FBI.
