Paramount wins approval for Warner Bros. Discovery merger, tees up White House UFC fight

Paramount’s green light for a roughly $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery landed alongside a White House UFC showcase that put Donald Trump’s birthday, his long-running ties to Dana White and Paramount’s sports ambitions in the same frame. The Justice Department approved the deal on June 12, even as the company prepared to stream UFC Freedom 250 live on Paramount+ without a pay-per-view fee from the South Lawn on Trump’s 80th birthday.

Paramount said the merger was “pro-competitive” and would strengthen the company against dominant tech platforms. But California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the transaction was “not a done deal,” and attorneys general in California, New York and nearly a dozen other states were weighing an antitrust suit. Regulators in the United Kingdom and Europe were also expected to scrutinize the acquisition, leaving the approval as a major milestone rather than a final victory.

The merger carries added weight because Paramount already has a $7.7 billion deal involving UFC rights, and the White House card became one of the first major fight spectacles tied to that arrangement. Paramount+ said the main event was Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje, with Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane as the co-main event. The company’s decision to carry the card live and on demand, with no pay-per-view charge, underscored how aggressively it is leaning into live sports as a growth strategy.

The event itself drew legal and public controversy long before the first bell. Court filings said more than $60 million had already been spent preparing the fight, more than 4,000 spectators were expected on the White House South Lawn and more than 120,000 people were expected at the Ellipse after winning free tickets in a lottery. Weigh-ins were held at the Lincoln Memorial, and the bouts were planned inside a 92-foot-tall octagon-shaped structure. A federal judge rejected an effort to block the event, while Trump administration lawyers argued the challengers had waited too long and could simply “avert their gazes.”

Trump’s relationship with UFC dates back to the early 2000s, including events at the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Dana White has long been one of Trump’s closest allies. Put together, the merger approval, the streaming deal and the White House fight card showed how business interests, political branding and presidential spectacle had become intertwined in ways that will invite more scrutiny, not less.