CNN’s Brian Stelter: ‘Who Invited Trump to This UFC Fight, and Why?’

Brian Stelter
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for CNN

President Trump became the first sitting president in U.S. history to attend a UFC fight on Saturday night. However, CNN’s Brian Stelter would like to know who invited the Commander-in-Chief, and why?

In a tweet captioning an MMA reporter announcing Trump’s arrival at UFC 244 at Madison Square Garden, Stelter posed the question to his followers:

Why, this would be a curiosity for Stelter in general is a good question. Why he would pose this question about Trump’s attendance at a combat sports event given Trump’s long history of supporting and promoting combat sports, coupled with his very good and public relationship with UFC President Dana White, might be an even better question.

But, since Stelter is curious.

“UFC president Dana White has praised Trump for backing the UFC early on—including agreeing to host fights at his venues and watching from the front row. ‘Nobody took us seriously. Nobody. Except Donald Trump. Donald was the first guy to recognize the potential we saw in the UFC,'” Bloomberg’s Tim O’Brien reports.

In other words, Trump was integral in the development of the UFC. Also, when you’re the president of the United States, you get invited places, it doesn’t really require explanation.

UFC 244 featured a fight between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal, for the Baddest Motherf*cker in the Game, belt. Earlier in the week, Masvidal praised Trump for being a “bad motherf*cker in his own right.

“No matter what your views are on Trump as a president, the guy’s a bad mother f*ucker, man,” Masvidal said. “The money that he’s made, the obstacles that he’s conquered — he’s a bad mother f*cker in his own way, you know, no matter what your political views are.”

Masvidal defeated Diaz, becoming, officially, the Baddest Motherf*cker in the Game.

Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.