"The All-American," "Gamebred," "Iron" and several other Ultimate Fighting Championship grapplers have been tapped by FBI Director Kash Patel to train agents how to body-slam bad guys.
The first-ever FBI training session led by professional mixed martial artists, including UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard, will take place Saturday and Sunday at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for our FBI agents to learn and train with some of the greatest athletes on earth — helping the world’s premier law enforcement agency be even better prepared to protect the American people," Patel said in a statement released by UFC.
UFC did not say what type of combat techniques would be included in the training, but it said its fighters "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."
UFC said the "all-star" crew includes Chris Weidman (The All-American), Jorge Masvidal (Gamebred), Michael Chandler (Iron) and others.
Told of Patel’s plan to have UFC fighters train agents, former FBI agent Chip Massey at first laughed and then quickly turned serious.
“The FBI has a full complement of people who know how to train agents going out into the field in hand-to-hand combat,” Massey said. “I don’t see the benefit of having UFC fighters demonstrating for FBI agents how to beat people up.”
While the job of a UFC fighter is to “take down” an opponent, FBI agents are trained to gauge a situation and “use a minimum amount of force to subdue a person so they are no longer a threat to the agents or themselves,” he said.
“Part of the nuance of the job is talking to a person so things don’t get out of hand,” said Massey, who now runs a crisis management firm called Convincing Company. “What the UFC does is a gladiator-style spectacle with bare-knuckle brawling. That’s not how we are trained.”
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that criticism.
Jody Weis, a former FBI agent and Chicago Police Department superintendent, said he too was taken aback by the idea at first. But he said he sees the benefit of FBI agents’ learning some of the mixed martial arts skills that UFC fighters are known for.
“Most fights will end up on the ground, so it just makes sense to me to incorporate some MMA training — maybe Brazilian jiu jitsu to give the agents options besides strikes and weapons,” Weis told Sinclair’s “The National News Desk.”
Patel, who never served as an FBI agent and was appointed to the agency's top job by President Donald Trump, is an unabashed fan of UFC fighting.
UFC CEO Dana White said he has "tremendous respect for the FBI" and "we're proud to support the FBI in strengthening their defense techniques."
White is a longtime Trump supporter who spoke at the president's victory rally last year.
In October, White and Trump announced they would be staging several UFC bouts at the White House on June 14 as part of the Trump administration’s celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
That date also happens to be Flag Day and the president’s 80th birthday.
