Donald Trump is a businessman. There is no doubt about it. His money, fame, and success speak louder than anything for it. As a successful businessman, he has partners and associates throughout many different professions. The UFC’s president Dana White is one of them, and he is openly speaking about it.
Dana White backed up Donald’s presidential campaigns in 2016, and in 2020 as well. As he says, this is due to his previous business interests with the ex-president. His ‘friendship’, or better mutual respect starts with the UFC 31 and UFC 32 events when Donald Trump hosts the promotion in his building Trump Taj Mahal.
Dana White And His Backing-Up Of Donald Trump’s Presidency Campaign
If you did not notice, we are speaking about events that are so early, that are at the beginning of the promotion. For all the old-time UFC fans, this was when characters such as Tito Ortiz, BJ Penn, Josh Barnet, and Randy Couture were in their prime. Both UFC 31 and UFC 32 happen back in 2001. So this is a 20+ years-long relationship that these two have.
“This brand was so bad, venues didn’t even want us. Arenas didn’t want us. 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, the greatest set up for us. Showed up at the first fight and he was there until the last fight. Both times we went there.” – Dana White says on the Pivot Podcast.
These are times when Ultimate Fighting is seen as something so absurd and perversely brutal that is seen as illegal. And due to its reputation, the locations of the events were limited to small places in Mississippi and Louisiana.
In due time, the current senator John McCain makes a statement regarding the sport, comparing it to a ‘human cockfight’. Even though it sounds stupid, this fuels the hatred, or dislike that the common people have for the sport and for the promotion.
2001 is the year when the promotion finally breaks loose and starts organizing events in Las Vegas. And since there is where everything starts for the UFC, they settle there for a long time and as a matter of fact they still mainly organize the events in Vegas.
“Everything that happened to me in my career from there on out, he’d pick up the phone and congratulate me. Or send something. He’s always been a solid guy with me. So then he calls me and says he’s running for President. He said ‘If you don’t want to do this, I completely understand, but I would be honored if you would speak at the National Republican Convention for me.’ Everyone told me not to do it… Everything this guy’s done for me, I’m going to tell him no? That’s not me.” – White says.
As a result of this, Dana White did speak at both the 2016 and 2020 Republican National Conventions. And you could see Trump in the first rows on many UFC events.
This shows the level of mutual respect these two have for each other. As the author Roy Bennet says, – “Always remember people who have helped you along the way, and don’t forget to lift someone up.”
