UFC President and CEO Dana White denounced comments made by one of his fighters calling former first lady Michelle Obama a “man” during the UFC Freedom 250 at the White House.
Heavyweight champ Josh Hokit, 28, made the hateful, unprompted remarks during a post-match interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, yelling out, “Michelle Obama is a man, am I right, America?” after winning his fight on the South Lawn.
While nothing was said to push back against Hokit in the moment, he has since faced backlash from both Republicans and Democrats— as well as from the UFC boss, who said he hates “that kind of nonsense.”
“I understand that the Obama’s are public figures but I’m completely against saying nasty and false things about people’s families,” White told TIME in a text message. “Everyone knows my position on free speech but I hate that kind of nonsense.”
The White House has not publicly commented on Hokit’s remarks, and it was not immediately clear if the fighter faced any consequences over his words. The Independent has contacted the White House and UFC for comment.
Hokit’s remarks drew widespread backlash, even from supporters of President Donald Trump, who have gone out of their way to defend the lavish UFC bash, which cost approximately $60 million to put on at the White House this weekend.
In a social media post, the Democratic National Committee shared a portrait of Obama and said she “lives in their heads rent-free.”
“The fighter yelling ‘Michelle Obama is a man,’ at an official White House event to honor America is utterly unacceptable and the administration should [denounce] it in no uncertain terms,” Fox News columnist David Marcus wrote on X.
“I’ve defended the administration’s America 250 plans, because I trusted they really would be non partisan, really would bring us together. But I was wrong. And it sucks,” he wrote in a follow-up post.
Liberal political commentator Harry Sisson wrote: “One of Trump’s UFC fighters just screamed ‘Michelle Obama is a man’ at the White House. Just incredibly gross. F*** Trump and this corrupt event.”
Congressman Christian Menefee, a Democrat from Texas, called out the racist remarks.
“They really let a UFC fighter call our only Black First Lady a man on the White House lawn at an official White House event … while thousands cheered and the biggest podcaster in the world smiled. There is no economic policy fix for this. Many of these people are just racist,” he said.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, a supporter of Trump, called on the president to denounce Hokit’s comment about Obama.
“These are UFC guys, they’re crazy. They’re idiots,” Portnoy said. “But when you have that on the White House lawn [at] an event you put down… I don’t care what you think about the Obamas or anything. That has be an immediate denounce.”
“Josh Hokit won the biggest fight of his career at the White House and decides to finish his interview by calling Michelle Obama a Man. What a disgrace,” former NFL quarterback and broadcaster Robert Griffin III wrote on social media.
“It takes a really small man to use his biggest moment to attack a woman by calling her a man. Especially with the history behind calling black women men,” he added.
The View co-host Sunny Hostin also addressed the athlete’s’ the racist remarks during Monday’s show, telling viewers: “For a long time — and the roots are in slavery — Black women have been slurred and made to feel that they were unattractive, made to feel like they were masculine and that they didn’t have the femininity that a white woman would have.”
“And so there’s this intersectionality between racism and sexism that was on full display at the White House,” she continued. “The crowd laughed at the statement, and the President of the United States smirked, and then never addressed what was said. That is beneath the dignity of the American people.”
Sunday’s spectacle drew thousands of visitors to the South Lawn to take in seven UFC matches. Despite reports that a slew of Hollywood A-listers were invited to attend Trump’s UFC cage fight event — most of the rumored attendees were no-shows.
Trump was joined at the event by White, as well as several members of his family, including First Lady Melania Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Barron Trump.
The UFC cage fight was staged on the White House’s south lawn, where the administration erected a ring, seating for roughly 4,500, as well as a 92-ft-tall steel cage dubbed “The Claw” to celebrate 250 years of American Independence. The spectacle also happened to coincide with the president’s 80th birthday.
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