Officially, Sunday night’s spectacle — “UFC Freedom 250” — was a celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, which just so happened to fall on Donald Trump’s birthday. A coincidence of the most convenient kind, all wrapped up in an Octagon cage called The Claw and oily men beating the crap out of each other while spectators cheered the bloodsport.
There were the more usual markers of a national anniversary, too, of course: fireworks, the national anthem. Trump and Dana White — truly the two most important people in the republic — stood side-by-side, with the president saluting while White solemnly held his hand over his heart. Gigantic flags flew high over the spectacle of Justin Gaethje turning Ilia Topuria’s face into a bloody piece of meat.
