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White House Fight Night Rocked By Michelle Obama Controversy

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Dave Portnoy
Photo Credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Dave Portnoy wants President Donald Trump to clean up the ugliest moment from the UFC’s White House spectacle.

The Barstool Sports founder, a Trump voter in the last election, said the president could not let fighter Josh Hokit’s post-fight crack about Michelle Obama pass as just another wild UFC moment.

Hokit’s microphone moment followed his second-round knockout of Derrick Lewis at Sunday’s White House UFC card, which doubled as part of Trump’s 80th birthday celebration.

Joe Rogan handed Hokit the microphone with Trump nearby, and the fighter opened by giving the president credit for staging the spectacle.

“Shout out to Trump for having the b***s to put this s**t on,” Hokit yelled. “If I’m going to say anything, there’s only one person more incredible than the incredible hulk, and that’s my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.”

Then he ended the interview with the insult. “And lastly, Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?” he yelled.

The comment immediately turned what had been billed as a splashy pro-Trump UFC showcase into a fresh political headache.

Cameras caught Trump with what CNN described as a “half smile” while cheers and boos rolled through the crowd.

Portnoy argued that the event itself was a success, but that Hokit’s comment crossed a line because of where it happened.

“There was one moment I do think Trump has to denounce,” Portnoy said. “And that’s that crazy fighter guy, I don’t even have his name up here, he won the fight, he took the microphone and he made a derogatory comment about Michelle Obama.

“To me, that, on the White House lawn, now these are UFC guys, right? They are crazy. They are idiots,” he continued.

“But when you have that on the White House lawn on an event you put down, I don’t care what you think about the Obamas or anything. That has to be an immediate denounce. Like, wrong, doesn’t speak for me.”

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The Barstool founder said Trump could defend the event while still rejecting the remark.

“I have no problem with the event. I guess you run that risk because these guys are lunatics. But that was the only thing,” he added.

“Trump should denounce it, [comment] “that was totally wrong”. The event itself, listen, the troops seemed to love it, all the people there seemed to love it. I think you’re crying over spilled milk if you are upset about the actual event.”

“But that comment, if you are going to do it, own it and be like “that was wrong and should never happen”,” he concluded.

The Michelle Obama remark was not Hokit’s first time using that kind of attack; in January, he aimed it at WNBA star Brittney Griner.

Griner’s name had already been politically charged after her nearly 10-month detention in Russia over cannabis-oil vape cartridges.

Her release came through a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, the “Merchant of Death,” a deal Trump had blasted.

UFC CEO Dana White was not thrilled when he heard about that earlier slur.

“I heard about it. I didn’t see it, I don’t love it,” White admitted.

The Michelle Obama jab was not Hokit’s only interaction with Trump during Sunday’s event.

Before the microphone blowup, Hokit had put a chain and pendant on Trump inside the cage.

The Democratic National Committee answered online with a Michelle Obama portrait and the message that she “lives in their heads rent-free.”

Former NFL quarterback and broadcaster Robert Griffin III blasted Hokit’s decision to use his biggest stage to attack the former first lady.

“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,” Griffin posted.

“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.”

The White House event had another off-script moment away from the main card.

Away from the cage, UFC champion Sean Strickland’s night ended with federal officers walking him out of an Ellipse viewing party.

The outspoken fighter had been watching from the Ellipse, overlooking the White House, before officers moved him out of the crowd.

According to the U.S. Park Police, officers were called around 7 p.m. over a disturbance linked to Strickland showing up without an invitation.

The situation grew tense when MAGA-friendly MMA fans reportedly surged toward the ring area and began booing him.

Police said the escort was about safety, not punishment, and that Strickland was taken back to his hotel.

He left without a citation or arrest, though police told him not to come back.

Strickland’s own Instagram clips made the encounter look far more dramatic, including one apparently filmed from inside an agent’s vehicle.

“I’m pretty sure I didn’t break a law — but I might be going to jail,” Strickland said in the clip while chuckling. “Hopefully the cops are nice to me.”

A second clip had him joking about a possible disorderly-conduct charge.

“I may have been charged with disorderly conduct — I don’t know what that is, but it sounds cool,” he said in another clip.

Strickland has publicly attacked Trump over Israel, Iran and the president’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Man if Trump keeps this bs up I’m about to start waving a Palestinian flag,” Strickland posted on X in February 2025.

“American cities are shitholes and you wanna go spend millions on this dumpster fire.. Did we make a mistake?! This ain’t America First..”

He later said he stopped supporting Trump after the president ordered the bombing of Iran in 2025.

Earlier this month, Strickland said his White House invite vanished after he mocked Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“UFC at the White House with [Netanyahu] in the audience. Straight slop,” Strickland posted last week.

“To be fair, they did ban me,” he added. “But when you make fun of the leaders of America, they tend to be a little bit petty. By leaders, I mean Israel.”

UFC CEO Dana White later drew a finer distinction that Strickland was not banned, but he was not invited either.

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