UFC: Tailor-made for Diplomacy, by Beatrice Camp

Pity the poor public diplomacy officer who has to arrange programs overseas with UFC fighter Josh Hokit — a deranged nightmare that has been set loose by the US State Department’s new sports diplomacy partnership with the Ultimate Fight Championship, or UFC.

In my foreign service career, sports diplomacy offered rewarding opportunities with eager young people being coached by notable US athletes. Remember Michelle Kwan as a public diplomacy ambassador? Cal Ripken? So the news that the State Department would now partner with the UFC landed like a looney joke.

When Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Under Secretary Sarah Rogers signed the agreement with the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 11, U/S Rogers described the UFC as a “beloved American sport.” She called it “tailor-made for diplomacy” because “sports is a stand-in for combat. It is the most ancient and universal form of contention.” In addition, “UFC draws on some essential strands of the American character,” which she seemed to define as the ability to get up after you get knocked down.

Secretary Rubio lauded the “exciting opportunity” as well, comparing the UFC’s success to putting a man on the moon, dubbing the UFC the “United Nations of fighting,” and praising the bonding power of the fights that attract a crowd “as diverse as you can imagine.”

It’s hard to envision the UFC fighters featured at the White House slug-fest on June 14 fitting the department’s description of Sports Envoys as “community-oriented professional athletes to promote cross-cultural understanding, engage underserved communities, and empower the next generation of athletes as leaders through sport.”  

Nevertheless, they are now in the running to serve as sports ambassadors leading training clinics for young international athletes. The administration has decided it is time to share this red-blooded American sport with the world.

Beatrice Camp is an international affairs professional. As a senior foreign service officer, Camp led U.S. consulates in China and Thailand, coordinated U.S. participation in two world's fairs, inspected public diplomacy activities, and served on detail from the U.S. Department of State as Senior Advisor for International Affairs at the Smithsonian Institution.