Kash Patelhas barely beenFBIDirector long enough to figure out how to control the office thermostat, but hes already floating bold and bizarre transformations to the bureau.
According to a Thursdayreport from ABC News, Patel wants to partner with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial arts league to help up the fitness standards of FBI agents.
Purely coincidentally, the UFC is headed by pro-Trump businessmanDana White, who regularly appeared alongside the president at campaign events, donated heavily to the presidents reelection effort, and even spoke alongside him at his Election Night acceptance speech.
New Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel on Feb. 21, 2025 in Washington, D.C.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Again.
Its coincidental.
According to ABC News, during a Wednesday meeting with the heads of the FBIs 55 national field offices Patel indicated that he wanted to begin an official relationship between the law enforcement agency and the UFC to make it create fitness programs for agents.
According to sources that spoke to ABC News, despite having covered a wide variety of topics in the meeting, rumors of the proposed collab between the bureau and the entertainment giant quickly spread throughout the agency.
Rich Frankel, a former FBI agent and current ABC News contributor, told the outlet that while the bureau frequently brings in experts in different martial arts to help train their agents (the FBI uses Krav Maga as the basis for its hand-to-hand combat training), he wouldnt want [the] UFC to take over the gym.
Amid Patels past promises to purge the FBI of deep state boogeymen, a partnership with the gritty, often bloody fighting league once described as human cockfighting by former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is bizarre, though not necessarily unexpected in the era of Trumpian politics.
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Trumps victory saw White gain new influence in areas far outside the realm of mixed martial arts.
When Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg found himself scrambling to smooth over his historicallytumultuous relationshipwith the president, one of the overtures he made to Trump alongsidelarge donationsand general groveling was toappoint Whiteto Metas board of directors.
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The rich who went all in on their support for Trump during the 2024 election are seeing their loyalty to the president paid back in spades.
Elon Musk, for example, is securinglarge government contractsdespite clearconflicts of interestwith his role in the Trump administration, while plenty of others have been appointed to key government roles.
White would only be the latest in a string of Trump sycophants to see his devotion to the president repaid, should the UFC land a training contract with the FBI..