The former President of the United States, Donald Trump, was interviewed by comedian Jim Norton and former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra in Las Vegas.
Trump’s relationship with the UFC
Matt Serra’s first UFC fight was at the Trump Taj Mahal in 2001 when many sponsors weren’t happy to be associated with the brand as it was viewed as barbaric; the sport of MMA had yet to crack the mainstream. With Trump being an avid fan of fighting, he decided to do what most other places across the United States were unwilling to at the time; provide a venue for the UFC.
”You know, those early years for the UFC were tough; they were very tough. I got the inside scoop from a lot of people. They (the UFC) were close to closing it down a few times, and they kept it going. They were losing money, and it was a tough deal, and they pulled it through, and now it’s a phenomenal juggernaut; it’s incredible.”
To this day, Donald Trump still attends UFC events and was cage-side for Alexander Volkanovski’s recent title defense against Yair Rodriguez. Trump is a fan of the Mexican along with a number of other fighters including the likes of Kamaru Usman, Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington. The common denominator? They all like Trump and have said nice things about him in the past; therefore, the feelings are reciprocated.
The former President particularly praised Masvidal as Gamebred attended one of Trump’s campaigns when he was in contention to be re-elected for a second term. Masvidal was vocal in support of his policies, which Trump felt contributed to him doing well with the Hispanic voters, especially in Miami, Florida.
UFC or Boxing?
When asked if he preferred UFC to boxing, Trump stopped short of committing to an answer. He talked about the differences in judging between the sports, stating that he believed the decisions to be a lot more consistent in the UFC. Although we regularly see suspect calls from the judges in the UFC, the point is valid.
In boxing, it’s not uncommon for a fighter to dominate a fight over twelve rounds and still be declared as the loser come the final bell, particularly if they are fighting in front of a home crowd. There are several theories as to why boxing has such a negative reputation surrounding the quality of the judging, but the number of rounds is certainly one of the factors. With typical UFC fights being just three rounds (five rounds for a title fight), there is less scope for judges to make bad decisions.
Trump also mentioned his frustration with boxing in that it can take years for a big fight to finally get put together, by which time at least one of the fighters is past their prime. An example of this would be Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao’s fight, the most successful boxing pay-per-view of all time. When it finally happened, the contest was very underwhelming, considering all of the hype.
The long, drawn-out process regarding matchmaking rarely happens in the UFC as fans, for the most part, get their wish when it comes to seeing the best regularly fighting the best. Trump is impressed with how the UFC conducts its business and is full of praise for Dana White and how the UFC has grown exponentially over the past few years.
”I give tremendous respect for the initial group (Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta) and also for Dana (White). I don’t think anybody could have done what Dana did; I really don’t. Usually, they say, ‘Everybody is replaceable, no matter what.’ I don’t think this guy (White) is replaceable. Where do you find someone like this? The job he does – and he really loves it – when I talk to people, they say you’ve got to love what you do. He truly loves it.”
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