Marveling at his recent visit with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani shared about the “weirdest thing” he saw while at the White House.
“Did he give you a tour of the White House? What was the weirdest thing he showed you? What’s that weird thing? He had to have showed you something – one thing weird,” comedian Adam Friedland asked Mamdani during his appearance on The Adam Friedland Show on Tuesday.
The soon-to-be mayor of New York City remarked on how the president showed him “portraits of all the presidents in the cabinet room” as well as the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing.
He went on to recount what caught his eye as he entered the Oval Office, describing “all these different coffee table books” and the one that he picked up to look at more closely.
“One of them is ‘UFC at the White House,’” he said, noting how he began “flipping” through the pages and admitting he had “no idea” about the planned event. The mixed martial arts event is set to be part of the nation’s 250th celebration, with a staged professional sporting display to be held on the South Lawn.
“And so you saw, like, guys fighting each other?” Friedland asked.
“No, it was just a visualization,” Mamdani responded. “Of what the –”
“Octagon is going to look like,” the host completed his sentence.
“Are you going to go?” he asked Mamdani, who laughed and said, “No.”
The Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the White House is scheduled to take place on June 14, 2026, on Trump’s 80th birthday. No final fighters have been announced, but UFC CEO Dana White recently gave an update on the planning.
“I want the whole White House to be the background of this fight,” White said on Andrew Schulz’s Flagrant podcast.
“This fight will live forever – you don’t not wanna see the White House. I don’t care what the structure costs — I want to see the White House,” he said, explaining that a separate lighting rig must be built so as not to obstruct the view of the White House.
“We’re paying for everything. The government isn’t paying for anything,” White added.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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