A Thursday press release from the FBI should make us all deeply aware of how strange a time we live in. According to that announcement, a group of current and former mixed martial arts fighters affiliated with UFC will be conducting a training seminar this weekend for students at the FBI’s academy. While it’s difficult to discern any benefit to future FBI agents, the move does illustrate that FBI Director Kash Patel’s desire to appear cool has him in a chokehold.
Between flying around the country with his younger girlfriend and his extremely official and not at all personal trip to Italy, where he had a locker-room bro moment with the gold-winning U.S. men’s Olympic ice hockey team, Patel is living out a specific version of a Gen X male fantasy from atop the nation’s top law enforcement agency. Getting to show off his close relationship with UFC fighters just adds one more layer to the towering construct of manliness he’s building for himself on the back of the bureau’s reputation.
Patel is living out a specific version of a Gen X male fantasy from atop the nation’s top law enforcement agency.
In his statement about the alliance, Patel praised UFC CEO Dana White — who is a friend of President Donald Trump — saying that White “has changed the game in the mixed martial arts industry and we’re extremely honored to be partnered with him, the professionals, and the UFC.”
According to the release, the UFC’s MMA athletes will “provide insight into how they train for competition, as well as demonstrate specific techniques and tactics, offering a unique perspective to the students as they prepare to enter the field office.” The statement did not specify which situations these future agents could encounter that would make MMA techniques especially helpful.
This collaboration has been in the works for the better part of a year, as Patel reportedly raised the idea of a partnership within his first week on the job. According to ABC News, he first floated the prospect on a call with field office leaders in which he “suggested that he wants the FBI to establish a formal relationship with the UFC, which could develop programs for agents to improve their physical fitness.”
Reuters reported at the time that Patel suggested the partnership after noting that the agency’s deputy director then, Dan Bongino, “is a huge UFC fan and that he inspired Patel to try the training.”
If you’re skeptical about how much of an advantage that training would provide compared to Quantico’s usual team of exercise experts, you aren’t alone: ‘There is training the FBI receives in physical altercations. If Kash Patel believed that should be beefed up, the answer is not to go to Donald Trump’s best friend who runs the UFC,’ a former Justice Department official said, when asked about Patel’s proposal. “It’s clearly motivated by the glitz and glamour show, and Trump’s friend,” said the official, who was granted anonymity out of concern about possible retribution. That’s a harsh burn but a fair one given Patel’s demonstrated willingness to do whatever it takes to stay in Trump’s good graces. It’s also undeniable that Patel has come a long way since his days as a lowly government lawyer turned intelligence aide to a congressman who once got into a personal beef with a Twitter account pretending to be a cow. But there’s performative masculinity and then there are all the things Patel has been doing since being confirmed as FBI director last year. It’s unclear how much money the FBI is spending to bring this “opportunity” to recruits. It’d be shocking to learn that these athletes are appearing pro bono or that White would leave money on the table for a course that could draw in some extra cash. But, hey, you can’t put a price on feeling good about yourself. And for Patel, that seems to be the obvious goal.
Hayes Brown is a writer and editor for MS NOW. He focuses on politics and policymaking at the federal level, including Congress and the White House. 
