QUANTICO, Va. — Federal contracting papers show the FBI lining up a yearlong, no-bid deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to put special agents through mixed-martial-arts defensive tactics at the bureau academy here.
The Sept. 30 paperwork argues only the UFC can deliver the full mix of striking, clinch and takedown work, weapon defense, ground control and conditioning that agents need on the timeline the bureau set. Officials frame the first year as a bridge while they study the market for a later open competition.
Responses were due by mid-October. The file does not show a signed award, and the public version blacks out how much the government would pay.
That effort builds on a March session at the Special Agent Academy that ran about 300 agents and academy students through two days of close-quarters work with seven current or former UFC athletes. Among them were ex-middleweight titleholder Chris Weidman, lightweight champion Justin Gaethje and Jorge Masvidal.
Director Kash Patel backed the March visit and has pushed fighter-led training since early 2025. Photos from the seminar showed fighters in joint-branded gear and Patel posing with participants.
Outside critics say the path looks like favoritism toward a promotion allied with President Donald Trump and UFC chief Dana White. A former Hostage Rescue Team defensive-tactics instructor called the sole-provider claim unrealistic. The bureau answers that the short bridge contract is meant to buy time for a competitive follow-on buy.
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