DONALD TRUMP received a wild reception from fight fans as he gatecrashed UFC 290.
The 45th President of the United States was in attendance at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night to watch the promotion’s International Fight Week card.
4
4
Trump made a somewhat subdued entrance into the packed arena just before the main card got underway.
He was flanked by a barrage of Secret Service agents as he made his way to his seat.
But his arrival was greeted with huge cheers by fans when he came up on the big screen.
MMA fans were quick to comment on Trump being in attendance for the Sin City card, with one saying: ” Dana White walks in with Donald Trump and this place popped big.”
Another said: “BEST PRESIDENT EVER!!!”
And another said: “Awesome!”
One remarked: “Dana White the NEXT VP.”
One chimed in: “Donald Trump is here and just got a HUGE pop from the crowd.”
Trump, who is running for the Oval Office in 2024, is no stranger to attending UFC events.
4
The 77-year-old – who held events at his Trump Taj Mahal hotel back in the day – was in the house for UFC 244 while he was still a sitting president.
He was also in attendance for UFC 264 and UFC 287, the latter of which he sat next to Mike Tyson and Kid Rock.
UFC president Dana White is a long-time friend of Trump and even spoke for him at the 2020 Republican National Convention.
When recalling his RNC speech for Trump, White told Tucker Carlson: “This guy has been so good to me it’s unexplainable.
“He’s been a very good friend to me since the day I met him.
“When we bought this company it had such a bad stigma attached to it and the sport that we couldn’t even get into venues, they didn’t want us.
4
“Donald Trump saw that this thing could possibly be big, plus he’s a sports guy who loves sports, and he offered us to come do the event at the Trump Taj Mahal at Atlantic City.
“He cut us a very fair deal and we went down there and did two events with him where he showed up for the first fight and stayed until the last fight.
“Imagine back then; Trump brand is way up, UFC brand is way down, but he took us in and he was great.
“Everything that ever happened to me in my career after that day, the first guy to reach out and say congratulations was Donald Trump; whether it was a letter or one time we were on the cover of the New York Times.
“He said ‘I always knew you were going to do it, Dana, congratulations’, and he sent me the paper. He sent me a pen one time congratulating me.
“He’s always sending something to say congratulations; a guy who is genuinely happy for your success.”
