MMA analyst Luke Thomas has been one of the most vocal critics of the UFC’s relationship with Donald Trump. Ahead of UFC 327, he laid out in detail in a recent YouTube video what he believes that relationship truly represents.
Thomas began by framing the partnership as fundamentally transactional, arguing that the UFC stands to gain tangible regulatory advantages from aligning closely with political power. He pointed to ongoing legislative efforts in Washington as a key example.
“On the UFC side, what would they get out of it? Well, you can look at Congress right now,” he said. “You can go and look at the proposed bill going through Congress right now. The Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act, this thing to gut the existing Ali Act.”
He continued: “This has been a priority of the White House to get this moved through the House and now into the Senate and then signed into federal law. This will allow basically the UFC or the parent company TKO to avoid all of the labor protections that protect boxers in federal legislation.”
He then turned his attention to UFC CEO Dana White, pushing back on White’s frequent claim that he stays out of politics. Thomas argued that the organization played a meaningful role in expanding Trump’s reach among younger voters, particularly demographics that are traditionally difficult for political campaigns to access.
“He marshaled the forces of the UFC and TKO more broadly to do his level best, and I think was hugely impactful in giving him access not merely to the youth who watch UFC and young men in particular, a very, very hard-to-reach portion of the electorate,” he said. “It helped return him to power. It helped put Trump back in office in 2024.”
Thomas also outlined what he considers the UFC’s most consequential role in Trump’s political trajectory: helping restore his public visibility following the fallout from the January 6 attack. According to Thomas, the timing of Trump’s appearances at major UFC events was not coincidental but part of a pattern that coincided with key legal and political moments.
“The UFC’s role specifically in the political career of Donald Trump is rehabilitating him in the public’s eye after January 6. That is their role,” he said.
He pointed to a clear timeline, noting that Trump’s first major public reappearance after the events of January 6 came at UFC 264 in July 2021. From there, Thomas tracked how Trump continued to appear at UFC events following significant legal developments, including his New York indictment in March 2023 and his conviction in May 2024.
“There’s no way to really know in the end, but I bet there’s a very good argument to make that Donald Trump doesn’t even win the presidential election but for the laundering service that the UFC provided for him,” he said.
Beyond the political implications, Thomas argued that the relationship has influenced the culture surrounding the sport itself. He suggested that the UFC’s alignment with prominent conservative figures has encouraged athletes, gyms, and promoters to engage more openly in political advocacy.
“It has become a vector for right-wing politics because now all of these actors down the line, including various gyms in Florida holding rallies for Ron DeSantis, lean into that advocacy,” he said. “It gave license to all of these actors to lean into their right-wing advocacy.”
Thomas closed by referencing a characterization from his colleague Kareem Zadan, summarizing the perception he believes is taking hold within parts of the MMA community.
“My colleague Kareem Zadan has called the UFC the sports arm of the MAGA movement,” he said. “That’s another great way to look at it.”
His final message was blunt, emphasizing what he sees as a mutually beneficial relationship between the promotion and the former president.
“The UFC wants you to associate their brand with Donald Trump. Donald Trump wants you to associate his presidency with the UFC,” he said. “They’re not hiding it. They’re not being ambiguous about it. They are transactionally using each other.”
