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Secretary Rubio Signs a Sports Diplomacy Memorandum of Understanding with UFC, Jun. 11, 2026

June 11, 2026 · U.S. Department of State · 0:16:59

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What happened

Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the State Department on June 11, 2026, at a ceremony hosted by the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, who framed sports as the department’s “convening power” and noted the department’s existing MOU with the NFL. UFC Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Epstein put the organization’s reach at 43 events a year, some 17 or 18 of them abroad, with fighters from more than 75 countries; President and CEO Dana White thanked the Secretary for his support.

Rubio gave three reasons for the partnership. The first is the American story itself — a country founded on “the impossible,” and a company that took a ruleless sport and, through structure, weight classes, and rules, built “one of the most recognizable American sports brands on the planet.” The second is reach: UFC is “truly the United Nations of fighting,” he said, recounting that foreign leaders constantly ask to attend — “to the point where we may have a diplomatic crisis, because we can’t bring everybody” — and that fighters introduce Americans to countries they have never heard of. The third is convening power: in a polarized society, a UFC crowd is “as diverse as you can imagine” in economic, social, and geographic background, one of the few remaining settings that brings people together around one thing in common — “and the bonding power of that is incredible.”

Why it matters

The signing is sports diplomacy stated as State Department strategy in a World Cup and Olympics cycle: a formal partnership instrument with an American global sports brand, fronted by the Secretary personally and added to the department’s existing NFL agreement.

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Sources: U.S. Department of State, “Secretary Rubio Participates in MOU Signing Ceremony with UFC President and CEO Dana White” (official upload, embedded above). Remarks as delivered; transcript reviewed in the site’s private research store; full transcript at state.gov.