Donald Trump arrives at UFC 309 to HUGE cheers from fans as President Elect hangs with Dana White and Elon Musk
DONALD TRUMP was greeted by a deafening chorus of cheers from fight fans as he made a sensational arrival at UFC 309.
The 45th and soon-to-be 47th President of the United States attended three of the MMA leader’s pay-per-view events last year.
Each event saw the 78-year-old receive an incredible reaction from fans.
But the response he got in his first major public outing since defeating Kamala Harris in the elections earlier this month was out of the world.
The electric Madison Square Garden crowd erupted as the business mogul came up on the big screen during the intermission between the prelims and the main card.
And the overwhelming majority of UFC fans in attendance undoubtedly gave Trump the biggest cheer of the night.
The Republican drank in the sensational reception as Secret Service agents flanked him as he made his way to his seat with Kid Rock and Elon Musk.
Defeaning chants of “USA, USA, USA” bellowed throughout ‘The World’s Most Famous Arena’.
And the fans went ballistic after the UFC dropped a hype video to promote his imminent return to the White House.
Unlike many celebrities, Trump is by no means a new fan of mixed martial arts’ top promotion.
He’s a long-time friend of UFC president and CEO Dana White, who has spoken on his behalf at Republican National Conventions in the past.
He even helped the promotion out back in 2000 and 2001 by letting them host events at the Trump Taj Mahal when arenas around the country were turning them away.
And White, who gave a speech after Trump’s election earlier this month, feels forever indebted to his friend.
He 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.
“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.”
“This brand was so bad, venues didn’t even want us. Arenas didn’t want us,” White recalled in a separate interview. “We had a hard time finding venues.
“Trump literally called us. He said ‘Come to my place, do the event here. We’ll have you at the Trump Taj Mahal.’
“We get there, greatest set up for us. Showed up at the first fight and he was there until the last fight. “Both times we went there.”