Dana White: UFC 244 ‘Big Night’ For Sport With Donald Trump

UFC president Dana White and President Donald Trump have supported one another for decades now.

Trump finally made his way to an event this past weekend, sitting down inside Madison Square Garden in New York City for UFC 244. This was the first time he has attended an event since becoming President of the United States of America.

For White, the appearance did not go unnoticed.

“He called me the night that he was elected and told me to get down to the afterparty, and I went, and he wanted to come to the Conor McGregor fight the next night,” White said (thanks to MMAjunkie for the quotes). “Obviously he didn’t know what he didn’t know at the time, how crazy it would be. And then he called me the next morning and said: ‘You know what? I’m going to ruin your event. I think it will ruin it. They’ll have to shut everything down, and I don’t think it’s a good idea. Let’s plan this again when there’s more time to plan.'”

While that time did not work out, the two kept in contact and made it work for New York City. Trump had previously helped the UFC, giving them a venue to showcase events in prior to his run for office.

Donald Trump On Attending UFC 244

“We had dinner last Thursday at the White House, and he said ‘I’m coming. I’m coming to New York’. And I was like ‘Oh my god! That’s going to be a rough one!,” White said. “Why don’t we do Vegas on the 14th (December)? And New York was the only one that he could do, so he came.

“Everything that ever happened to me in my career, Trump was the first guy to pick up the phone and reach out to me. From getting back on pay-per-view, getting our first TV deal when we did the big FOX deal, the guy always reached out to me.”

Trump watched as Jorge Masvidal stopped Nate Diaz for the “BMF” title. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson presented Masvidal with his title, and Trump acknowledged him on social media.