Matt Flegenheimer

Trust your gut. And I think the lesson was that Dana White believed then and believes now that he knows his audience better than anyone. And to him, that audience respects somebody who will do what he believes in or at least project that he is doing what he believes in. He has been somebody with an antenna for this stuff and for knowing where his audience would be across the decades.

Trust your gut. And I think the lesson was that Dana White believed then and believes now that he knows his audience better than anyone. And to him, that audience respects somebody who will do what he believes in or at least project that he is doing what he believes in. He has been somebody with an antenna for this stuff and for knowing where his audience would be across the decades.

Well, it comes during a pretty dark time across the sports landscape and otherwise, and it's COVID. Obviously, sports are sort of shut down across the board. People are thirsting for any kind of content of any sort.

Well, it comes during a pretty dark time across the sports landscape and otherwise, and it's COVID. Obviously, sports are sort of shut down across the board. People are thirsting for any kind of content of any sort.

The NBA stopped playing, and there is this real appetite to get something fresh and live on the air. And Dana White sees an opportunity. He's trying to find workarounds. And he finds it in Florida, an empty arena in Jacksonville. The UFC becomes the first major American pro sporting event in the COVID age to reopen.

The NBA stopped playing, and there is this real appetite to get something fresh and live on the air. And Dana White sees an opportunity. He's trying to find workarounds. And he finds it in Florida, an empty arena in Jacksonville. The UFC becomes the first major American pro sporting event in the COVID age to reopen.

And certainly the expert consensus and the medical consensus was that this was not necessarily a fantastic idea. He is sort of bulldozing through that concern. And it was a moment when obviously the sports landscape was barren. He had a pretty captive audience and it was really a showcase opportunity for the UFC.

And certainly the expert consensus and the medical consensus was that this was not necessarily a fantastic idea. He is sort of bulldozing through that concern. And it was a moment when obviously the sports landscape was barren. He had a pretty captive audience and it was really a showcase opportunity for the UFC.

That's a huge piece of it. But it's interesting. White, obviously, for years, despite the speech in 2016 at the convention, had kind of positioned the UFC as the apolitical sport in contrast to what he and I think a lot of UFC fans saw as kind of an overt intrusion of politics and protests and social justice initiatives into the NBA, the NFL. The UFC was supposed to be sort of insulated from that.

That's a huge piece of it. But it's interesting. White, obviously, for years, despite the speech in 2016 at the convention, had kind of positioned the UFC as the apolitical sport in contrast to what he and I think a lot of UFC fans saw as kind of an overt intrusion of politics and protests and social justice initiatives into the NBA, the NFL. The UFC was supposed to be sort of insulated from that.

Of course, in this case, COVID became a great piece of the culture war. And by opening, reopening at all, that's a political stance and certainly was aligned with where Trump was in that moment as he was pushing for a kind of broader reopening of the economy.

Of course, in this case, COVID became a great piece of the culture war. And by opening, reopening at all, that's a political stance and certainly was aligned with where Trump was in that moment as he was pushing for a kind of broader reopening of the economy.

Absolutely. And it's been building for some time, but this is the moment that really establishes White as a MAGA superstar of the highest order in a way that even the convention speech didn't. And you see the Trump orbit and the UFC orbit, the white orbit kind of merge.

Absolutely. And it's been building for some time, but this is the moment that really establishes White as a MAGA superstar of the highest order in a way that even the convention speech didn't. And you see the Trump orbit and the UFC orbit, the white orbit kind of merge.

And this cultural moment starts to form around disaffected men who feel slighted, who feel like the world has not been conspiring in their favor for some time.

And this cultural moment starts to form around disaffected men who feel slighted, who feel like the world has not been conspiring in their favor for some time.

the manosphere. And these fights become a gathering place for the leading lights of that intellectual space. This sort of amorphous, right-wing, anti-woke, anti-establishment sentiment. And in his period of not being the president anymore, starting in 2021, Trump is kind of one of those figures. He becomes somebody who shows up at these fights, frankly, in moments of

the manosphere. And these fights become a gathering place for the leading lights of that intellectual space. This sort of amorphous, right-wing, anti-woke, anti-establishment sentiment. And in his period of not being the president anymore, starting in 2021, Trump is kind of one of those figures. He becomes somebody who shows up at these fights, frankly, in moments of

sort of public turmoil for himself. One of the first public appearances he makes in his period of being kind of a pariah after January 6th in 2021 is at a UFC fight. Interesting, huh? After he's indicted, he goes to a UFC fight. It becomes a sort of balm, and he's walking in and getting a giant ovation among a lot of his supporters.

sort of public turmoil for himself. One of the first public appearances he makes in his period of being kind of a pariah after January 6th in 2021 is at a UFC fight. Interesting, huh? After he's indicted, he goes to a UFC fight. It becomes a sort of balm, and he's walking in and getting a giant ovation among a lot of his supporters.