logo
Brendan Schaub: UFC hosting event at the White House 'should be celebrated'

Brendan Schaub: UFC hosting event at the White House 'should be celebrated'

USA Today08-07-2025
Brendan Schaub sees the talks of the UFC having an event at the White House as a net positive for the sport.
The UFC is planning on hosting an event at the White House. This news has been received with a range of reactions, as things often do in today's political climate. However, former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub says fans should see the potential event as a positive, regardless of their political affiliation.
MMA, which has been around for about 30 years, battled for decades to gain mainstream approval in the U.S. – from getting the sport sanctioned to getting the product on television. Today, it's a much more different story, as MMA has gained a lot of popularity, especially among young males, and found on ESPN, and it's covered by most, if not all, major publications to some degree.
Schaub sees the UFC's planned event at the White House as another sign of the sport's growth.
"I knew about the UFC White House event – and this isn't a flex – I knew it was confirmed for like four months now," Schaub said on his YouTube channel. "Everyone wants to fight on that card at the White House. It's insane. Now, if you make it political, 'Oh, God. UFC is so tied in with Trump.' Just take all that out of it, whoever you voted for, this is how far the UFC has come: The UFC is fighting at the White House. That's insane, that should be celebrated."
"I don't give a f*ck if Kamala Harris or Pete Buttigieg was the President. Dude, if the UFC is at the White House, it's insane. You know how big that is? That's so cool, despite if you swing right or swing left. Take all that out of it. The UFC is having an event at the freaking White House. That's so cool. Everyone and their mothers wants to fight at the White House."
There has not been an official announcement or booking of the event, but President Donald Trump said last Thursday that next year's Independence Day celebration will involve a UFC event on White House grounds. A UFC spokesperson confirmed the news to NBC on Friday. Trump has long been associated with UFC and MMA, even prior to his presidency. He's often seen at UFC events.
Schaub feels given the nature of the occasion, UFC should put forth their American talent, and mentioned fighters such as Kayla Harrison, Michael Chandler, Colby Covington, and Bo Nickal.
"You're going to have to have American fighters on there, clearly, right?," Schaub said. "We're not going to do this Noche UFC where we have a Brazilian headlining it. We got to have Americans. The problem is we don't have Americans thriving, especially as champ status."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Investing in Space: NASA's months of reckoning
Investing in Space: NASA's months of reckoning

CNBC

time7 minutes ago

  • CNBC

Investing in Space: NASA's months of reckoning

For half a year now, NASA's been weathering a storm on every front, from its budget to its chain of command and potential program terminations. Employee uproar was an inevitable chapter of the saga. A group of 360 current and former NASA employees have penned a letter rebuking "rapid and wasteful changes" across staffing, mission and budgetary cuts at the space agency. "The last six months have seen rapid and wasteful changes which have undermined our mission and caused catastrophic impacts on NASA's workforce," the letter says, noting concerns that the proposed downsizing in personnel and funding are "arbitrary and have been enacted in defiance of congressional appropriations law" and that "the consequences for the agency and the country alike are dire." Signatories of the letter, titled the Voyager Declaration, urge the U.S. leadership not to implement "harmful" cuts and dispute "non-strategic staffing reductions," curtailing research projects, as well as cancelling contracts and participation in international missions or assignments for which Congress has already appropriated funding. It's no small list of objections raised at a time of broader uncertainty at NASA, which faces significant — and long chronicled — declines in funding and staff, amid a broader White House push to shrink down the federal workforce. "NASA will never compromise on safety. Any reductions—including our current voluntary reduction—will be designed to protect safety-critical roles," NASA Spokesperson Bethany Stevens said in an emailed statement. "The reality is that President Trump has proposed billions of dollars for NASA science, demonstrating an ongoing commitment to communicating our scientific achievements. To ensure NASA delivers for the American people, we are continually evaluating mission lifecycles, not on sustaining outdated or lower-priority missions." Adding to the tumult, NASA on Monday announced the high-level exit of Makenzie Lystrup, who will end her two-year stint as Goddard Space Flight Center director on Aug. 1. NASA says the step was communicated internally before any knowledge of the letter. It's not the first loss from the agency's senior ranks in recent months: Laurie Leshin stepped down from the director post of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in June. And more exits could be forthcoming: at the start of the month, Politico reported that at least 2,145 senior-level employees could depart NASA, many serving in core mission sets. Throughout, NASA — notable for both its own achievements and its substantial contracts to the U.S. private space industry — has remained without long-term leadership, after U.S. President Donald Trump's initial pick, tech billionaire and Elon Musk ally Jared Isaacman, was unexpectedly removed from consideration back in May. Sean Duffy, Trump's transportation secretary, was appointed to hold up the fort as NASA's interim administrator just this month. Inevitably, there's money on the line. NASA clinched a budget of $24.875 billion last year — 8.5% under its initial request and 2% below the funding of 2023 — that was matched in 2025. Under the Trump administration, the agency battled the possibility of a roughly 25% budget trim in 2026, although the U.S. House of Appropriations subcommittee has pushed back on these cuts. If enacted, the Trump funding proposal of $18.8 billion would have been the smallest NASA budget since before the U.S.' first crewed Moon landing via the Apollo 11 mission, commemorated this week on July 20. In a Monday statement, Trump said his administration is "building on the legacy of Apollo 11" and endorsed NASA's initiatives focused on "returning Americans to the Moon —this time to stay — and putting the first boots on Mars." Colonizing the red planet has been a vocally stated objective of the U.S. president since his January return to office, echoing the ambitions of his then-ally Musk. The two have since parted ways through an explosive rift, but the dream to land U.S. astronauts on the Moon and Mars has gripped the nation, with a respective 67% and 65% of those surveyed in a CBS News/YouGov pollv now in favor.

‘Desperate' and ‘irrelevant': White House slams ‘South Park' Trump parody
‘Desperate' and ‘irrelevant': White House slams ‘South Park' Trump parody

News24

time7 minutes ago

  • News24

‘Desperate' and ‘irrelevant': White House slams ‘South Park' Trump parody

South Park's season premiere mocks Donald Trump with controversial AI-generated scenes, drawing sharp criticism from the White House. The White House denounced the show, calling it 'desperate' and 'irrelevant' despite its 27 years on air. The episode comes as Paramount secures a $1.5 billion streaming deal and navigates merger talks with Skydance. The White House lashed out at the creators of South Park on Thursday after the bawdy satire skewered Donald Trump in an episode featuring an AI-generated version of the US president crawling naked through a desert. In a no-holds-barred season premiere, the animated Trump character is also seen begging Satan for sex, only to be rebuffed - in part because his penis is too small. The White House was not amused. Spokesperson Taylor Rogers said: This show hasn't been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention. 'President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country's history - and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump's hot streak.' The adult animated series, which frequently touches on hot-button issues in American life, is now in its 27th season and remains one of the world's most valuable TV shows. The season premiere begins with the foul-mouthed Cartman appalled that NPR has been taken off the air by the president, while Randy, a parent, is disturbed by the presence of Jesus in public elementary school. Complaints to the fictional White House receive only a threat from Trump to sue the mountain town of South Park for billions of dollars. Meanwhile, animated Trump is threatening to bomb Canada 'like I did Iraq.' 'I thought you just bombed Iran,' the Canadian prime minister replies. 'Iran, Iraq, what the hell's the difference?' replies Trump. The episode, which sees the fictional Trump ride roughshod over many aspects of American life, ends after the town of South Park makes a financial deal with the president, including an agreement to make public service announcements. The AI-generated short that follows - ostensibly one of those announcements - shows an overweight Trump staggering through a desert as a narrator casts him as a latter-day Jesus. The short ends with a naked Trump as the narrator says: 'Trump. His penis is teeny-tiny, but his love for us is large.' Watch it here At a Thursday panel at pop culture event Comic-Con in San Diego, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker revealed internal discussions over depicting a fake presidential phallus. 'They're like, 'Okay, but we're gonna blur the penis.' And I'm like, 'No, you're not going to blur the penis,'' Parker told the audience. After 'a whole conversation with a lot of grown-up people for about four ... days,' Parker said they decided to add eyes to it to avoid it being blurred. View this post on Instagram A post shared by South Park (@southpark) Merger The episode aired days after creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone reportedly penned a $1.5 billion streaming deal with Paramount that gives the company global rights. The deal comes at a sensitive time for Paramount, which is trying to secure government approval for a multi-billion-dollar merger with entertainment company Skydance. The CBS parent caused a furore this month when it agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit Trump had brought over an interview the storied 60 Minutes current affairs program aired with Kamala Harris ahead of last November's election. The payment was criticised by Democrats as little more than a bribe to help smooth the merger, with Paramount initially dismissing Trump's lawsuit as meritless. Last week, CBS sparked fury after it cancelled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, whose host is a pointed critic of the president. The network insisted it was a financial decision, but opponents have painted the move as the latest example of American institutions bowing to Trump.

India under pressure to seal trade deal with U.S. as deadline looms
India under pressure to seal trade deal with U.S. as deadline looms

CNBC

time36 minutes ago

  • CNBC

India under pressure to seal trade deal with U.S. as deadline looms

Pressure on India to seal a trade deal with the U.S. has intensified this week ahead of a fast-approaching Aug. 1 deadline, which will see tariffs increase to 26%. A trade deal between the U.S. and Japan announced on Wednesday, which addressed sticking points on greater market access for American autos and agricultural products, has also added to the urgency for New Delhi. Like Japan, India has resisted greater market access for American agricultural products to protect its local farmers, who form a sizable voting bloc. In its recent trade deal with the U.K., finalized on Thursday, India managed to safeguard its most sensitive agricultural sectors from tariff concessions. Indeed, India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal acknowledged that the sector was sensitive to India in an interview with CNBC on Thursday. "We are always very sensitive to the interests of our farmers, the interests of our [Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises], and will ensure that our areas of concern are well protected," Goyal added. However, as the window to seal a trade deal with the U.S. closes, analysts say Washington also has its reasons to finalize an agreement sooner rather than later. "Strategically, the U.S. has little interest in alienating India. It sees India as a strong partner that can shape the Indo-Pacific landscape," Harsh V. Pant, Vice President of Studies and Foreign Policy at Observer Research Foundation, told CNBC. Bringing manufacturing back stateside, especially from China, has been a central tenet of Trump's economic policy. To that end, India represents a potential alternative to China in global manufacturing, analysts told CNBC. Because the Trump administration is largely focused on countering China's arrival on the global stage, this makes India's role in managing this great power rivalry "very, very, critical," said Pant. As America "positions itself against China's reach into global supply chains," shifting manufacturing to India becomes a natural "compromise", and might even complement the shift back into the U.S.," Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank, said. For example, the U.S. could control some of the higher end of the manufacturing chain, which requires more technology and skilled labor, while India "complements it with cheaper labor," Varathan added. In doing so, India might be able to "cut China out and position the U.S. more strategically," all while walking the diplomatic tightrope, added Varathan. India's role in the BRICS, a group of 10 emerging economies, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, could also give New Delhi "a degree of flexibility in U.S.-India deals," Observer Research Foundation's Pant said. According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the bloc aims to challenge Western-led global economic institutions and reduce the dominance of the U.S. dollar in the global economy. On July 6, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened an additional 10% tariff on countries that align with the "Anti-American policies of BRICS," just as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a high-profile visit to Brazil for a BRICS summit. Trump would repeat his threat over a week later, saying on July 18 that he would "hit [BRICS] very, very hard" if they ever "really form in a meaningful way." "We can never let anyone play games with us," he added. However, despite being caught in the tug-of-war between the U.S. and BRICS, India has appeared to escape Trump's wrath. Indeed, Trump hinted on multiple occasions that the framework for a trade deal with India is close to the finishing line. Within BRICS, India is facing increasing pressure from China, which sees New Delhi as "competing for a leadership role" in the bloc, according to Mizuho Bank's Varathan. As such, it appears that India would be useful to the U.S. as a counterbalance to China in the BRICS. Trump has also claimed that BRICS wants to "take over the dollar" through the creation of an alternative reserve currency, despite denials from members of the bloc. This could be another bargaining chip in India's negotiation arsenal with the U.S., Varathan said, as India could work to "convince Trump that they are not on board with the plan for an alternate currency." He added that India could focus on what it can transactionally offer to the U.S., which might incentivize Trump to "treat them a little better because he sees them as being aligned." India has been pushing for more trade deals even as it continues to negotiate with the U.S. Sarang Shidore, director of the global South program at the Quincy Institute, pointed out in emailed comments that this is part of India's "increased turn toward a multi-alignment strategy." Besides the UK, India has advanced talks on trade agreements with Maldives, the EU, and more, all while "retaining its strong link with Washington as its biggest global partner," according to Shidore. This diversification gives India leverage, both at the negotiating table and in navigating global economic shocks. If the U.S. imposes higher tariffs or ties trade to more difficult concessions, India could accelerate deals elsewhere, thereby softening the blow. More than just a hedging tactic, Shidore thinks this approach reflects India's broader worldview: as a rising power that aims for multilateralism while "championing the Global South."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store