Professional UFC fighter Bryce Mitchell didn’t pull punches while criticizing the Trump administration over the upcoming Freedom 250 fight event.
“I love studying politics. On the political side of things, not the UFC’s business, that is — of course, they’re gonna say yes to it. But what I think personally is that our government is desecrating its role in society by entertaining sports,” Mitchell, 31, said during a press conference Wednesday.
See Mitchell’s comments in the video below:
The Freedom 250 UFC fight is scheduled for Flag Day, June 14, which also happens to be President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. The event has been criticized as it led to the construction of a massive facility being built on the South Lawn, not far from the construction of the president’s ballroom.
While the UFC arena was supposed to be temporary, Trump said this week that “maybe we’ll never, ever take it down.”
The Eiffel Tower in Paris was supposed to be “taken down immediately after the World’s Fair,” Trump added. “Well, they never took it down.”
Both former UFC commentator-turned-podcaster Joe Rogan and UFC CEO Dana White have raised minor concerns about the event being outdoors.
Mitchell, who is not scheduled to fight that night, said he is happy for those who are.
“For the UFC, I think it’s great. It’s beyond great. It’s literally the perfect scenario.”
However, the event itself falls outside of what should be the scope of the government, the fighter said.
“Our government is to protect and serve the people, and really should be as minimal as possible. … When you’re doing all of this stuff, hosting sporting events, it’s really outside of what the goal of the government was intended to be, because our tax dollars and resources are funding this operation,” Mitchell said.
The fighter, who sparked backlash last year after calling Nazi leader Adolf Hitler a “good guy,” clarified that his opinion is not a criticism of the UFC organization. He described the sporting event as “a once-in-a-lifetime thing” for fighters, but said “the government should never be hosting sporting events, because there’s more room for corruption.”
“And we already have a corrupted government,” Mitchell added. “And so that’s my thoughts on it, is that the government is supposed to protect us, not entertain us.”
Mitchell, who once vowed to take a bullet for Trump, came out to condemn the president last year, in part for his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Joe Rogan’s connection with UFC. Rogan was a UFC commentator.