{"id":2491,"date":"2026-06-11T20:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T20:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491"},"modified":"2026-06-11T20:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T20:36:13","slug":"rubio-compares-the-founding-of-the-ufc-to-landing-a-man-on-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491","title":{"rendered":"Rubio compares the founding of the UFC to landing a man on the moon"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>\n            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.\n    <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2489\">US puts up $750K to evacuate an American who was aboard hantavirus cruise ship from remote island<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n            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 \u201chistoric.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            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.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            In his remarks at the State Department Thursday, Rubio described \u201cwhole idea of America\u201d as \u201caudacious,\u201d from its founding onward.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cWhen 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,\u201d Rubio said before inking an agreement to use the American mixed martial arts company as a tool of US diplomacy.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cWe are a nation founded on doing what no one else dared to do, and no one else aspired to do,\u201d he continued.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cAnd at some level, that\u2019s what this whole company, what UFC has been,\u201d Rubio said.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            He claimed that UFC CEO Dana White \u201cand the people around him had a vision\u201d to create a structure to mixed martial arts events.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Rubio, who described UFC as \u201cthe United Nations of fighting,\u201d claimed that the fights are \u201ceducating Americans about cultures, societies all over the world.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2487\">Trump says he will nominate Jay Clayton to top intelligence post<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cWe\u2019re excited about what this brand means about America\u2019s ability to expand and reach out to different parts of the world,\u201d he said.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            He described UFC fights as one of the \u201cvery few things left in our society, and I would say, in the world that convenes us all.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Rubio also joked about the potential \u201cdiplomatic crisis\u201d that could unfold over demand from foreign leaders to attend Sunday\u2019s fight at the White House, which will commemorate both the 250<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary of US independence and also falls on President Donald Trump\u2019s 80<sup>th<\/sup>birthday.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Two Virginia residents have filed a lawsuit seeking to stop that fight, arguing that the use of the White House grounds \u201cto stage a private, for-profit sports event, with all the promotional and branding opportunities that accompany such access\u201d will financially benefit White and Trump himself. Their lawsuit cites a report in the spring that Trump bought $50,000 in stock in UFC\u2019s parent company.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cA billion people all over the world will be watching America celebrate its 250th birthday with the White House in the background and some of the best athletes in the world in that octagon,\u201d he said.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Under the newly signed memorandum of understanding between the State Department and UFC, they \u201cwill engage current and former athletes, coaches, and executives as mentors and cultural ambassadors to deliver overseas clinics, workshops, and training sessions that promote teamwork, leadership, and healthy lifestyles among youth,\u201d a State Department spokesperson said.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            They \u201cwill also develop joint educational content using MMA to teach English and leadership skills, while coordinating on international UFC events to showcase American excellence alongside our US missions worldwide,\u201d the spokesperson said.\n    <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2485\">Huge \u20188647\u2019 etched into grass on the National Mall, aerial images show<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rubio compares the founding of the UFC to landing a man on the moon - Relocation Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rubio compares the founding of the UFC to landing a man on the moon - Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-11T20:36:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2491#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2491\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be\"},\"headline\":\"Rubio compares the founding of the UFC to landing a man on the moon\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-11T20:36:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2491\"},\"wordCount\":620,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2491#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/93bbfd419390aaa0a36f25b3d19ad5e1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2491#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2491\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2491\",\"name\":\"Rubio compares the founding of the UFC to landing a man on the moon - Relocation Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2491#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2491#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/93bbfd419390aaa0a36f25b3d19ad5e1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-11T20:36:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2491#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2491\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2491#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/93bbfd419390aaa0a36f25b3d19ad5e1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/93bbfd419390aaa0a36f25b3d19ad5e1.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":450},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2491#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rubio compares the founding of the UFC to landing a man on the moon\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Relocation Times\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rubio compares the founding of the UFC to landing a man on the moon - Relocation Times","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rubio compares the founding of the UFC to landing a man on the moon - Relocation Times","og_description":"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.","og_url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491","og_site_name":"Relocation Times","article_published_time":"2026-06-11T20:36:13+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be"},"headline":"Rubio compares the founding of the UFC to landing a man on the moon","datePublished":"2026-06-11T20:36:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491"},"wordCount":620,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/93bbfd419390aaa0a36f25b3d19ad5e1.jpg","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491","url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491","name":"Rubio compares the founding of the UFC to landing a man on the moon - Relocation Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/93bbfd419390aaa0a36f25b3d19ad5e1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-11T20:36:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/93bbfd419390aaa0a36f25b3d19ad5e1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/93bbfd419390aaa0a36f25b3d19ad5e1.jpg","width":800,"height":450},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2491#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rubio compares the founding of the UFC to landing a man on the moon"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/","name":"Relocation Times","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/relocationtimess.com"],"url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}