What’s the most anticipated UFC event of next year under the Paramount+ era? Most fans would probably say the White House card. Why? Because it’s the event that can potentially pull Conor McGregor back to the octagon and convince Jon Jones to break his retirement within weeks. So yes, Dana White and Donald Trump’s ambitious plan is already attracting massive attention. But not everyone is on board with how things are shaping up.

Initially, the POTUS claimed the White House fights would host over 20,000 fans. Later, the UFC CEO presented a very different setup. On the FullSend podcast, Dana White said, “I don’t think we’re going to sell tickets, it will all be comp tickets,” while mentioning that a huge public crowd might not be possible due to security concerns. It made sense to some, but others hated the idea of fighters competing without real fans in one of the most historic events ever. Certainly, Colorado native Brandon Royval didn’t like the idea at all. 

Brandon Royval dismisses Dana White and Donald Trump’s UFC White House plans 

During an interview with In the ArenaMMA, ‘Raw Dawg’ said, “I don’t give a s–t about fighting at the White House. I wanna fight in front of big crowds, bro. How big can the White House have of a stadium? That’s sh—t’s like outside too? It’s like… Yeah bro, I don’t give a f— about any of our political figures right now, and it’s like to fight in front of them, just seems like some f— hunger games type of f— s—. Like, I don’t give a f— to fight in front of a bunch of f— billionaires and rich people that f— give a s— less about me, and probably throwing parlays.”

Fighting at the White House would be a dream for many fighters, but not for Royval, who’s scheduled to face Manel Kape at the last fight night event of this year, on December 13th. And he’s not the only one who’s uninterested in next year’s grand spectacle. Even former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was asked about the event on the Lapsed Fan Podcast. Her response? “I got better s— to do. My kid needs pasta.”

Sure, ‘Rowdy’ is retired from MMA, but her answer shows that others share Royval’s feelings. And ‘Raw Dawg’ kept going, firing more shots at Dana White and Donald Trump’s White House plans. He added, “It’s like f— you guys, I wanna fight in front of people that Raw Dawg fans, which are fans of MMA, like, and fans that can relate to me. It’s like, I’m not trying to fight these f— a— h—. F— all these politicians.”

While the former flyweight title challenger has zero interest in fighting at the White House, another fighter already seems eager to go if the event becomes official, especially if it comes with a personal request from the president.  

Bo Nickal fixed for White House event on Trump’s demand  

In recent UFC years, Bo Nickal has quickly become one of America’s favorite fighters to watch. The Penn State alum built a huge fanbase through his dominant freestyle wrestling career, which smoothly translated into MMA success. Because of that, Dana White always tries to place Nickal on cards where the national spotlight is at its highest. For example, Nickal fought Paul Craig at UFC 309 in front of Donald Trump. So naturally, the promotion wants him involved in the White House event as well.

And now, Nickal has revealed that the POTUS has already booked him for next year’s spectacle. On The Ariel Helwani Show, the middleweight contender said, “I’m planning on being on that card. That’s history. That’s exciting. That’s something that I feel I would just be absolutely ecstatic and grateful to be a part of,” he said last month. “I got to take care of business, and yeah, I mean, I’ve talked with President Trump. He wants me on the card. So, I’m sure that if things line up, we’ll make it happen.”

Right now, Nickal is set to face Rodolfo Vieira at UFC 322 in a high-stakes prelim matchup. After his loss to Reinier de Ridder at UFC Des Moines, the 29-year-old is eager to make a massive comeback and silence the doubters. However, it’s unclear how much a win or loss will impact Nickal’s chances of securing a spot on the White House card.

So, we can see movement happening on all fronts for Dana White’s White House event—some fighters want nothing to do with it, while others don’t want to miss the opportunity. With all the buzz building, when do you think the promotion will make it official? Let us know in the comments below.