Bryce Mitchell Accuses UFC of Trying to ‘Make People Worship Antichrist Donald Trump’ with White House Event
Bryce Mitchell, the Arkansas featherweight, has zeroed in on the UFC’s biggest show of 2026. In a fresh rant aimed at the June event on the South Lawn, the fighter known as “Thug Nasty” accused Dana White’s promotion of bending the sport around Donald Trump’s political agenda, even while admitting he still thinks the UFC is the best sport going.
Bryce Mitchell slams UFC White House card over Donald Trump ties
Mitchell laid out his view in a blunt statement that has been making the rounds on MMA social media:
“I do think the UFC is the best sport in the world, however this White House card, I do think, is an egregious use of political favor to make people worship Donald Trump. They are trying to make the most popular sport and make it conducive to Trump’s campaign while he destroys this nation… How much clearer does it get this guy is trying to take over the world, but hey don’t worry, the fights are going to be great!”
In the caption, he added: “I also think Trump is an antichrist of Revelation.”
The quote lands with extra weight because of who is saying it. Mitchell told reporters in December 2024 that he would “take a bullet and die” for Trump, a line he repeated during a UFC 310 fight-week press conference after beating Kron Gracie.
Less than a year later he flipped hard, posting an Instagram video in October 2025 telling his 600,000 followers he no longer supported the president, calling him a “corrupted leader” who had “tricked” him on the Epstein files, on foreign aid to Israel and Ukraine, and on beef prices. In the same clip he pointed viewers to Revelation 13:3 and suggested Trump could be the beast described there.
The card Mitchell is describing is “UFC Freedom 250,” set for June 14, 2026 on the South Lawn of the White House. The date is Flag Day, the 250th anniversary year of American independence, and Trump’s 80th birthday. The latest on the UFC White House fight card is that Ilia Topuria is now set to headline the June 14 event against Justin Gaethje for the lightweight title, while Alex Pereira is booked to face Ciryl Gane in the co-main for an interim heavyweight belt.
Trump and Dana White have been close since the early 2000s, when Trump hosted UFC events at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City at a time when most venues would not touch the sport. White has spoken at the Republican National Convention in 2016, 2020 and 2024, and was on stage with Trump on election night 2024.
A 2024 New York Times profile described White as Trump’s “conduit to modern fight fans” and framed the UFC as the MAGA movement’s “semiofficial sport”. Trump attended UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden days after winning the election, flanked by Elon Musk, Mike Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and was ringside again at UFC 327 in Miami earlier this year, where he reportedly pushed for Derrick Lewis to be added to an upcoming card.
Bryce Mitchell’s history of controversy
Mitchell is no stranger to headlines away from the cage. In January 2025 he used the first episode of his “ArkanSanity” podcast to call Adolf Hitler a “good guy,” deny the Holocaust and spread homophobic remarks, prompting Dana White to call the comments the most “egregious” thing he had heard in his career. The UFC declined to discipline him, citing free speech. Mitchell has also claimed the Earth is flat, blamed Israel for 9/11 and suggested Brazilian fighter Jean Silva was “possessed by demons.” He lost to Silva at UFC 314 in April 2025, a defeat that preceded his public break with Trump.
Taken together, the new quote puts a MAGA-aligned fighter from inside the UFC roster on record calling the promotion’s marquee event a campaign prop. The framing puts into perspective that pushback against the White House card has come from political commentators rather than fighters on the card.
