UFC president Dana White and President Donald Trump have maintained a close friendship over the years.
With White and the UFC becoming the first American sports promotion to return to live action Saturday night with UFC 249, Trump offered his support.
“I want to congratulate (UFC President) Dana White and the UFC,” Trump said in a video message played during the event. “They’re going to have a big match. We love it. We think it’s important. Get the sports leagues back. Let’s play. Do the social distancing and whatever else you have to do. We need sports. We want our sports back. Congratulations to Dana White and UFC.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4pJDFLawcI
Since the U.S. shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic two months ago, sports have been left on the sidelines.
The UFC, though, promised to be the first back and they did just that after Florida opened the doors. The state allowed the WWE to begin television programming recently and the UFC followed.
Along with UFC 249, two more UFC events are scheduled from Jacksonville, Florida and the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on Wednesday and Saturday night coming up. Where they go from there remains a mystery at this point.
The event did not go off without a hitch, though, as Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and two members of his fight camp tested positive for COVID-19. Souza was scheduled to meet Uriah Hall on the prelims, but the fight was scrapped as soon as the positive test result was found.