UFC Freedom 250 drops women fighters on Trump’s 80th

Ahead of UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday—scheduled as a mixed martial arts event taking over the White House on President Trump’s 80th birthday—women fighters are not on the card. The decision puts a spotlight on Dana White’s long-running claims about an “even playi

When Americans tune into UFC Freedom 250 this Sunday—the series of mixed martial arts fights taking over the White House on President Trump’s 80th birthday—one key element of the sport’s usual look is missing: women.

In the days leading up to the spectacle on the South Lawn. construction has continued as final preparations are made for the White House event. where a hulking claw-like structure has essentially ripped through the grounds. But among the fighters slated to compete, women will not be part of the card.

To some viewers, the absence may sound like a throwback to the hypermasculine stereotypes that often surround MMA. Yet Kyle Green. a sociologist who writes on the intersection of sports and politics. has argued that UFC major events nearly always include women. He points to the way MMA differs from many other sports: women often appear on the same cards as men and are not subject to different rules.

Green’s comparison is stark. In boxing. women can only fight for a maximum of ten rounds. while men’s matches can generally go up to 12. Most sports also maintain separate leagues for women. The UFC. Green has said. long positioned itself as different—going back more than a decade—emphasizing women as proof that the organization offers an “even playing field. ” a line Dana White has used to describe the company’s approach.

But White has also admitted that the past did not look like that. In 2019. he said. “I completely own up to saying women would never fight in the octagon. ” describing his earlier opposition to allowing women to fight in the UFC. He tied that stance to a different struggle at the time: “you’ve got to remember at this time. I was trying to get people to accept the men fighting in the octagon.” He added that it “wasn’t allowed on pay-per-view” and “wasn’t allowed on TV.”.

If the UFC’s inclusion of women has been framed as progress. the Freedom 250 card reads differently to those watching the politics of this particular moment. White now says he tried to bring women to the White House event but “we couldn’t get it done. ” according to his remarks to Time. He told Time he initially wanted a fight between Zhang Weili and Mackenzie Dern. but he said Weili was taking time off. When reached for comment, Zhang Weili did not respond to Time.

That explanation is where the tension sharpens. because White is also. in principle. describing women’s MMA as something he already admires. “The reason that the women’s MMA has taken off and it’s so big is because these women are legit. ” he said. “Really good, very technical, and it’s amazing, and I never saw it coming.”.

Critics say that praise doesn’t line up with the way women’s presence is handled at the most politically symbolic stage the UFC can offer.

Jenn McClearen. author of Fighting Visibility: Sports Media and Female Athletes in the UFC. put it bluntly: when “the promotion stages its most politically symbolic event ever. and women vanish from the card. that’s not a glitch.” She argued it shows “whose presence is considered essential to the story being told on that lawn and whose is optional.”.

McClearen added another charge about equality. “When he says stuff about equality in UFC for men and women, in a sense, yes, it’s true. But in the sense that they treat them equally badly.”

For Julie Kedzie. a retired mixed martial artist and former UFC fighter. shutting women out of the White House reflects an approach that tends to lean toward what she called “politically expedient” for White. She linked that to the UFC chief’s role in shaping public opinion—particularly around sexism that continues to follow the sport.

Kedzie said people still push degrading stereotypes about women fighting. “People still say women can’t fight. that they suck. that when women fight is when they go and get a sandwich. ” she said. “It’s a pervasive attitude that can be proven wrong. But White hasn’t put a stop to that, and he holds the court of public opinion.”.

In her view, White has the leverage to change the story directly. “He has such a lock on the media and could change that story himself by saying, ‘Women can fight, shut the fuck up.’ But he hasn’t.”

The discussion around White and the UFC’s politics has also included how the organization responds when it risks angering right-wing audiences. Kedzie pointed to the way White has handled controversy involving Bud Light. In 2023. after Bud Light ignited conservative ire over its partnership with trans TikTok personality Dylan Mulvaney. the beer later partnered with the UFC in what appeared to be an effort to win back the right. Ben Fowlkes. a sports writer and host of the Co-Main Event podcast. said White carried out an aggressive campaign to rehabilitate Bud Light’s image.

“He essentially provided Anheuser Busch the cover they were looking for, with somebody to go over to the right-wing crowd and tell them, ‘Come back over, you can buy Bud Light again, it’s safe.’ And it worked,” Fowlkes said.

That episode is part of why some see Freedom 250 as more than scheduling. The UFC’s defenders, Fowlkes said, can insist fighters aren’t political—but he argued the organization’s visible fighters have increasingly tracked the political trajectory around Donald Trump.

“Before 2016. it was a rarity to ever hear a fighter who had any political opinions or any political awareness. ” Fowlkes said. “Every once in a while. you’d get somebody who had strong feelings. and they were almost always Republican—or anarchist.” He described an odd mismatch: fighters who built their careers around spotting “a fake tough guy or a bully” still. he said. supported Trump.

“It baffled me because these fighters have worked their whole lives to be able to spot a fake tough guy or a bully. And here’s one, but you love him,” Fowlkes said.

The absence of women on the White House card takes on a particular meaning against that backdrop. McClearen said. because women in the UFC fight under the same rules. on the same cards. in the same cage as men. “There’s no asterisk on a women’s fight. ” she said—unlike in sports where people argue women’s competition is somehow lesser.

McClearen also suggested the UFC’s inclusion of women is not only ideological. “The UFC figured out that promoting diverse fighters helps it reach diverse global audiences. so women’s visibility serves the brand. ” she said. “Which is empowering and precarious at the same time. because visibility that’s granted for business reasons can be withdrawn for business reasons.”.

Rousey is often cited by defenders as the example that disproves sexism. As Kedzie said, her star power was undeniable. “She was also a very beautiful woman. and she was going to make [White] a lot of money. ” Kedzie said. arguing that economic incentives. not pure conviction. helped reverse White’s resistance.

Both Fowlkes and Kedzie returned to that same critique when describing White’s “equal playing field” framing. “When he says stuff about equality in UFC for men and women, in a sense, yes, it’s true,” Fowlkes said. “But in the sense that they treat them equally badly.”

Kedzie agreed, pointing to fighter pay. She called the UFC’s notoriously low fighter pay “poverty wages.”

The conversation about women and equality around Freedom 250 also intersects with who is allowed to attend the event. The article’s discussion notes that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. who has publicly argued against women in the military. is playing “an unusual role” in dictating strict physical requirements for military members attending the upcoming White House fight.

Even some who agree that women can fight and compete at the highest level said the decision to include or exclude them here still lands as a moral signal. Kedzie said the absence of women on the South Lawn is “something of a relief. ” but not for the reason people might assume. “Not because women can’t be just as fascist as the men,” she said. “But ultimately. opting to compete at the White House. with its overwhelming sheen of corruption and disrepute. was a ‘moral choice.’”.

She said she has “absolutely no respect for any fighter that competes on that card,” adding, “or for anybody who corners somebody who competes on that card.”

In the end. Freedom 250 arrives as the UFC positions the White House takeover as its biggest politically symbolic event—and as White says women’s absence is simply a logistical failure. For critics. the contradiction between past claims and present visibility is the point: women are not banned from the sport. they’re just not there for this particular story being told on the South Lawn. on President Trump’s 80th birthday.

UFC Freedom 250 White House Dana White President Trump 80th birthday women fighters MMA Zhang Weili Mackenzie Dern Ronda Rousey sexism in sports Pete Hegseth