Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wants a piece of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Controversial new director, Kash Patel, held a special teleconference earlier this week where he outlined his upcoming plan to partner with UFC in hopes of improving the training and fitness of field agents around the globe.
“If they’re trying to up their physical fitness, the UFC is very specific in their fitness,” former special agent in charge of FBI’s Newark, New Jersey office, Rich Frankel, told ABC News. “I don’t want UFC to take over the gym.”
Reactions among active agents ranged from “surreal” to “wacky.”
“There is training the FBI receives in physical altercations,” a former Justice Department official told Reuters under anonymity. “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. It’s clearly motivated by the glitz and glamour show, and Trump’s friend.”
Trump has a longstanding relationship with UFC CEO, Dana White.
Patel, a one-time aide to President Trump, was confirmed by the US Senate to lead the FBI and sworn in just a few days back. Patel vowed to shake up the Bureau, which currently boasts more than 37,000 employees across 55 U.S. field offices.
If and when this partnership comes to fruition remains to be seen.
