US Secretary of State Marco Rubio extolled the virtues of the Ultimate Fighting Championship as being intrinsically American, likening its creation to putting the first man on the moon.

In remarks that at times took on the tone of a campaign speech, Rubio commended the convening power of mixed martial arts to unite people of different social and geographic backgrounds and hailed the upcoming UFC fight at the White House as “historic.”

Rubio, who has run for president in the past, has increasingly been eyed as a potential contender for 2028, though he has publicly downplayed those ambitions. Still, his public profile has been on the rise through appearances in the White House briefing room and on Capitol Hill with moments cut for social media.

In his remarks at the State Department Thursday, Rubio described “whole idea of America” as “audacious,” from its founding onward.

“When President Kennedy announced that we were going to put a man on the moon and return them safely to the earth, no one thought that was possible, and we did it,” Rubio said before inking an agreement to use the American mixed martial arts company as a tool of US diplomacy.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/11/politics/rubio-ufc-dana-white-moon