Pre-order my new book: THE ULTIMATE STRONGMEN
Wondering how the UFC evolved from a fringe combat sport into one of the most influential cultural and political institutions in America? Do I have a book for you!
Welcome to Sports Politika, a media venture founded by award-winning investigative journalist Karim Zidan that strives to help you understand how sports and politics shape the world around us. My mission is to offer an independent platform for accessible journalism that raises awareness and empowers understanding.
If you share this vision, please consider supporting my work by joining becoming a paid subscriber or by pre-ordering my new book.
It is finally happening.
Less than 48 hours removed from the grotesque propaganda spectacle known as UFC Freedom 250, I am delighted to announce that my debut book, THE ULTIMATE STRONGMEN, is now available for pre-order.
Part memoir, part investigative excavation of the underbelly of MMA, the book expands upon much of my reporting over the past decade—reporting that earned me death threats for exposing how Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov used state-sponsored MMA gyms to train soldiers for combat; reporting that uncovered the rise of an international network of neo-Nazi MMA fight clubs preying on disaffected young men; reporting that revealed the growing influence of Gulf state autocrats within the sport, tracing how MMA has become a powerful tool for political agendas, propaganda, and control.
Then there is the Donald Trump-UFC alliance, and how that reshaped American politics and culture. Trump didn’t just adopt the aesthetics of the UFC—he weaponized them to reshape political discourse, rally a new base, and redefine what it means to be a “strong” leader. Even for those who don’t care about sports, this shift matters.
While I didn’t know it at the time, there was always a common denominator between these stories—a thread linking my reporting in Russia and the Middle East to my work in the United States. MMA, especially through the UFC, has evolved into ground zero for a new wave of right-wing, hyper-masculine counterculture. It is no longer a haven for amateurs and misfits but a gateway to far-right extremism and authoritarian spectacle, as we witnessed during the UFC White House event last week.
THE ULTIMATE STRONGMEN has already received critical acclaim, as well as the prestigious J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award, co-administered by Columbia Journalism School and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.
Here is what the judges had to say about the book:
[THE ULTIMATE STRONGMEN] will be a vital and stylish work of reportage and memoir about mixed martial arts (MMA) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), especially in the age of Trump, whose alliance with UFC has helped mainstream, in Zidan’s words, a ”brand of aggressive nationalism and anti-establishment rhetoric that has since bled into broader American politics.” Zidan’s work is an indispensable guide to a sport and culture not well known outside its fanbase, but which has, as his journalism has shown, links to neo-Nazis, Gulf autocrats, gendered propaganda, and much more. With deep sourcing and narrative command, Zidan’s story traces UFC from its outlaw origins—once denounced as ”human cockfighting” by Senator John McCain—to its emergence as a cultural arm of the MAGA movement, with its politics of dominance, spectacle, and grievance. He has a gift for illustrating these sweeping themes with intimate human stories, from a former UFC champion turned QAnon-peddling city councilman to the fighters who cheered Trump even while their own labor rights were gutted. Zidan, an award-winning, Cairo-born journalist, has reported on this beat for over a decade, despite bans, death threats, and the hostility of powerful institutions—demonstrating the same defiant persistence as the fighters he covers. The Lukas Prize will help him complete his ambitious reporting, which spans Russia, the Middle East, and the United States, all the way to the White House.
About the Book:
From Karim Zidan, award-winning investigative journalist who has spent the past decade embedded at the intersection of sports and politics, an “indispensable guide” (J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize) to the intertwined relationship between mixed martial arts, hypermasculinity, and authoritarianism.
For those wondering why US politics feel more like an entertainment product than a democratic process, the alliance between Donald Trump and the UFC offers a crucial explanation. Trump didn’t just adopt the aesthetics of the UFC—he weaponized them to reshape political discourse, rally a new base, and redefine what it means to be a “strong” leader. It has helped shift the Overton window on acceptable political behavior, turning trash talk, and open hostility into presidential policy. Even for those who don’t care about sports, this shift matters: when politics becomes a bloodsport, democracy suffers a critical blow.
But beyond the pro league, mixed martial arts writ large has itself helped lay the foundation for a countercultural movement—one that has evolved into the reactionary, conspiracy-fueled ecosystem the sport embodies today. From conservative pundits like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens; to influencers like Joe Rogan, and self-styled misogynists like Andrew Tate; to authoritarian backers like the Saudi and Emirati royal families; and even recent public support from the likes of practitioners Mark Zuckerberg, MMA has become synonymous with the “strongman”—an archetype of masculine domination, authoritarian culture, right-wing ideology, and state-sanctioned violence.
The Ultimate Strongmen traces how MMA has become a powerful tool for political agendas, propaganda, and control, illuminating the wide-ranging impacts of MMA on our political moment. Through exclusive interviews, narrative storytelling, and in-depth reporting, Karim Zidan reveals how Donald Trump’s alliance with the UFC, as well as MMA’s emergence as a right-wing counter-culture ecosystem, isn’t just a footnote in American politics—it has fundamentally reshaped it.
Pre-order THE ULTIMATE STRONGMEN here. Get 20% off with code JUNE20 plus free shipping on orders of $40 or more. Those who show proof of purchase will also get a 12-month paid subscription to Sports Politika, giving you access to all our content.
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