Trump is a Frequent Fixture at UFC Events

Published on June 8th, 2024 3:46 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


If you are even a casual fan of the UFC, you may have noticed that the promotion frequently welcomes President Trump to their events.

In fact, President Trump recently walked out with UFC President Dana White at UFC 302, and received a thunderous ovation.

The truth is that President Trump has been a long-time fan of the UFC, and is instrumental in the promotion achieving long-term success.

In fact, if President Trump didn't exist, there is a very good chance that the UFC would have folded.

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In 2001, the UFC was facing a crisis.

The promotion has become the favorite punching bag of many politicians, including Senator John McCain, who called it "human cock-fighting".

The promotion was losing money and having a tough time finding locations to host their events - many people wanted nothing to do with them, as they feared the political blowback.

From April of 2000 to September of 2000, the UFC hosted just three events - one that took place in front of 1,100 fans in Iowa, and one that took place in Tokyo, Japan.

Times were tough.

Donald Trump, however, had no problem hosting UFC events. In fact, he offered use of Trump Taj Mahal to the UFC, and they ended up holding three events there over a period of just six months - UFC 28, UFC 30 and UFC 31.

More importantly, Donald Trump was front and center at these events, giving the UFC a key ally in their fight to gain respectability in the eyes of the public.

The UFC would survive this tough period, change their rules in order to seem less "barbaric", and the rest is history.

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UFC President Dana White has long credited Donald Trump with giving the promotion a lifeline during a desperate time of need.

This is not an exaggeration - it is extremely likely that the UFC would have folded in 2011 if not for Donald Trump.