Criticism of the UFC’s historic White House event continues to mount. UFC Freedom 250, set for June 14 on the South Lawn, has already faced public scrutiny from fighters including Sean Strickland and Bryce Mitchell over its supposed political undertones. Adding to the chorus with a new criticism of his own is the co-founder of the promotion, Rorion Gracie, who recently shared his views on the UFC with USA Today. Gracie, a key figure in the UFC’s founding in 1993 and its early rise, claimed he won’t be watching the massive event on Sunday. 

“Now the UFC guys, no disrespect, I admire every single one of them. Anybody who climbs in the ring to fight, to get beat up, that’s a hero,’’ the MMA pioneer explained. “No, I’m not putting anybody down so that you’re very clear. I personally don’t watch the UFC anymore because I think it’s violence [is] unnecessary violence. That’s my point of view.

“… You’re taking the violence thing, and what’s happened is it’s going to be interesting. I mean, I find that really interesting. And I know they went their direction, but it’s not the direction it was intended to go.”

The direction Rorion Gracie is referring to here is a more clinch-heavy style of fighting where strikes are comparatively fewer than grappling exchanges. While it’s true striking has taken the dominant position in the promotion compared to its early days, it’s not necessarily been a bad thing. However, it has in ways contributed to the sport being labeled violent by many.

In 1996, Senator John McCain famously called it “human cockfighting” and “barbaric,” lobbying all 50 U.S. governors to ban it. Meanwhile, the American Medical Association also recommended bans. Major cable providers (like TWC, TCI) stopped airing UFC events, citing that it was too violent for children. And these things eventually forced the UFC to implement newer, stricter rules.

It’s also important to note that, despite being labeled violent, there haven’t been any fatalities in UFC compared to other combat sports like boxing, where the numbers are very high. So the argument that it is more violent doesn’t truly hold up when examined.

But in the past too, Rorion Gracie has criticized the direction in which the UFC has gone since its early days.

“They modified the original concept of comparing styles; it became a comparison of athletes,” he told MMA Fighting in 2016. “The winner was no longer necessarily the better style, but often by judges outside. It was no longer the vision I had, so I do not regret walking away.”

Whether Gracie, who co-founded the promotion with his brother Royce Gracie in the early 90s, intended it to go where it is today or not, the co-founder sold his share of the promotion in 1995. Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta then bought the promotion in 2001 and hired Dana White as a key executive. Today, they are set to host their biggest show ever at the White House, drawing in more eyeballs along with renewed criticism from all sides.

Even from within the promotion, the voices rebuking the UFC for the White House event are many. The UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland had claimed that some UFC higher-ups had informed him that he cannot attend this weekend’s UFC White House event because of his past criticism of the event, Donald Trump, and Israel.

Still, he was planning to fly to Washington, D.C., with a bullhorn to stage a protest outside the White House. The same criticism came from Bryce Mitchell as well.

UFC White House has detractors from inside the promotion

After Strickland had initially revealed that he was banned from the event, UFC bantamweight Bryce Mitchell took offense at it. In a press event on Wednesday, he claimed the government is “desecrating its role in society by entertaining sports.” He argued that the government shouldn’t get involved in sports because there is more room for corruption and claimed the government is already corrupt. 

Even the fighters who are expected to fight on Sunday’s card aren’t entirely happy. Canada’s Aiemann Zahabi, who faces Sean O’Malley, claimed he is excited about the event but wished he was allowed to give a nod to where he came from through his outfit. Meanwhile, long-time UFC color commentator Joe Rogan, who will attend the event on Sunday, has repeatedly expressed his concerns over the event. 

Joe Rogan has also been critical of the promotion’s decision to stage championship fights outdoors, pointing to potential disruptions such as adverse weather, insects, and extreme heat. UFC star Brandon Royval is also not a fan. Royval stated that he has little interest in UFC Freedom 250 and even likened the spectacle to The Hunger Games.

On other fronts, the event was sued by the watchdog group, the Public Integrity Project, to stop it from unfolding.

It appears the UFC has as many critics as it has supporters. But all that doesn’t matter because the event is happening anyway.