UFC Announces Global Sports Partnership With The U.S. State Department

Dana White and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio put pen to paper on a Memorandum of Understanding at State Department headquarters this week, formalizing a partnership between the UFC and the U.S. government centred on sports diplomacy — following a blueprint laid down by the NFL just months earlier.

The NFL and the State Department struck a similar agreement in January ahead of Super Bowl LX, committing to joint public diplomacy programs at U.S. embassies worldwide, international flag football clinics, and events around major NFL occasions.

The UFC’s agreement is expected to bring additional financial and promotional benefits, while aiding the UFC in expanding into new international territories. The deal arrives in the same month the promotion stages its first ever event on the White House grounds at UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday. White recalled how far the UFC had come from its inception.

“Obviously, we come from very humble beginnings when we first bought this company. We believed at that time that this thing would work everywhere and would work all over the world. It doesn’t matter what color you are, what country you come from, and what language you speak — we’re all human beings and fighting is in our DNA. We get it and we like it,” White