The White House played host to UFC Freedom 250 on its South Lawn on Sunday night, a UFC Event celebrating the United States’ 250th anniversary and President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. Unfortunately, things got a little nasty after one of the fights, with a moment going viral for all the wrong reasons.
Star fighter Josh Hokit defeated Derrick Lewis at the event, and after this high-profile win, grabbed the microphone and promoted a controversial conspiracy involving former First Lady Michelle Obama.
“Michelle Obama is a man,” Hokit said into the microphone. “Am I right, America?”
Somewhat surprisingly, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who has been a supporter of Donald Trump in the past, called on the President to denounce the incident on Monday.
“There was one moment I do think Trump has to denounce,” Portnoy said on Wake up Barstool. ” Yeah. And anybody associated with it has to denounce. And that’s that crazy fighter guy. I don’t even have his name up here, but he won the fight.
“He took the microphone, and he made a derogatory comment about Michelle Obama. To me, that on the White House lawn. Now, you— these are UFC guys, all right? They’re crazy. They’re idiots…
Dave Portnoy calls on Trump to denounce the Michelle Obama slur that took place on the White House south lawn. pic.twitter.com/m2yuooycFh
— Christopher Hale (@ChristopherHale) June 15, 2026
“But when you have that on the White House lawn, on an event you put down, I don’t care what you think about the Obamas or anything, that has to be an immediate denounce…
“You have Sean Strickland, who’s one of the craziest people of all time, to the point you can’t even pay attention to what he says, snuck in. But when you have that on the White House lawn, on an event you put down, I don’t care what you think about the Obamas or anything, that has to be an immediate denounce… I guess you run that risk because these guys are lunatics. But that was the only thing. If Trump should denounce it, he should say that was totally wrong.”
As of Monday afternoon, Trump has yet to make an official denouncement of Hokit’s words.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.