Fight Night

War and diplomacy are eclipsed by spectacle and self-interest

Photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson - Pool/Getty Images

It is bordering on the impossible to keep track of everything that is going on in this country and in the world. I have to be honest with you, I have struggled at times to find the through line, to connect the dots, and to keep my eye on the overarching themes. But every once in a while, an event occurs that serves as an alarming distillation of where we are as a country.

A recent event that checks off those boxes was a UFC match held over the weekend. It serves as a microcosm for many of the dysfunctional, dangerous things that are unfolding in America in 2026 while we are in the middle of an unconstitutional illegal war of choice.

It is some of the people who attended this event I want to focus on because it helps us find that through line that is so difficult to uncover. Joe Rogan, who is one of those people responsible for getting Donald back into the White House in 2024, has recently been taking to his podcast to criticize Donald, especially in the context of his horrific immigration policies and, most recently, the aforementioned unconstitutional illegal war of choice in Iran. Joe Rogan showed up at this UFC event shaking hands with Donald, the guy he now pretends to claim should no longer be in the Oval Office. I know this probably seems unlikely, but I guess Joe Rogan was not entirely sincere in his criticisms.

And then that brings us to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was also at this event. He was looking sharp and sober, which is to say very inebriated. What was the Secretary of State of the United States of America doing at a UFC event while negotiations were going on between the United States and the country with which we are at war? Who was handling those negotiations? The entirely unqualified Vice President of the United States, J.D. Vance, a man not exactly known for his measured temperament or diplomatic skills, along with two grifters, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. One, again, who has no negotiating skills that I am aware of, and the other, Kushner, who has no official role in our government. Kushner just happens to be Donald’s son-in-law, and he happens to like taking money from Middle Eastern countries.

This, to me, highlights just how unserious the United States of America is at this point in diplomacy or in statecraft and how little invested Marco Rubio is in doing his job as Secretary of State.

That, of course, brings us to this horrific excuse of a human being, Andrew Tate. He was there with his brother, Tristan. Both of them have been accused by the governments of Romania and the United Kingdom of rape and sex trafficking young women. Why are Andrew and Tristan Tate not in a very deep, dark hole in Romania or in the United Kingdom? Because Donald does not want them there. Tate, who had a mediocre career as an MMA fighter, subsequently built a massive social media platform, essentially peddling misogyny and self help for pathetic men.

Tate knew at some point he was probably going to get caught, because his misogyny, his sick ideas about women, and how he treated them were so public. He knew he needed friends in high places, and he started cultivating relationships with some of Donald’s children, including his oldest son, Donny. And of course, Andrew Tate made it known far and wide that he was a huge supporter of Donald. So somebody in the Trump regime made a deal with Romania’s government, making it clear that it would be better for them if they let Donald’s friends, Andrew and Tristan Tate, misogynist, alleged rapist and sex traffickers, go free. Once they were released, where did they go? They went to Florida. And now we learn that Andrew Tate is also very close friends with Donald’s youngest son, Barron.

Let us leave aside for the moment what kind of despicable parents you would need to be in order to allow your relatively young child to associate with monsters like Andrew Tate and focus on what other purpose this is serving. Allowing Andrew Tate to roam free and to be seen at the event with the President of the United States is just another way this regime, a regime of fascists, misogynists, rapists, and abusers of women and children, is trying to normalize misogyny and violence against women, which brings us to Donald Trump himself.

We are in the middle of an unconstitutional illegal war of his choosing, and this was what was utmost in his mind.

This is what Donald said to a UFC fighter last weekend.

Thank you. You are a beautiful man. Great fight. I will give you a moment. You look so good. You are too good looking for a fighter. You are an incredible fighter. Thank you, man.

That is what Donald was doing while the United States is bombing Iran, while Iran is bombing other countries, while Israel is obliterating Lebanon, because he started a war he does not know why he started and certainly does not know how to end. Under his watch, over 200 Iranian children have been killed. Hundreds of people have been killed in Lebanon. Dozens in Israel. Thirteen American service members, at least, are dead because of him. And while very high-stakes negotiations were going on between the United States and Iran, he was watching a UFC fight.

This is always the case. Donald only cares about his own immediate needs. He needed to be in a crowd, he needed to be admired, and he needed to see a couple of grown men beat each other.