The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s event on the South Lawn of the White House Sunday has been billed as a red-blooded celebration of both the country’s 250th anniversary and President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. It’s also a triumph for a company once considered a pariah in the American sports landscape.
Just three decades ago, the UFC launched early events with few rules, no weight classes and no judges, as mixed martial arts earned a reputation as a barbaric blood sport. Arizona Senator John McCain called it “human cockfighting,” and pushed a national campaign that eventually led to it being banned in 36 states.
UFC co-founder Campbell McLaren recalls an event in Charlotte, North Carolina, in April 1995 in which a burly police officer with a peaked cap approached him and issued a stern warning.