UFC boss promotes Trump’s ‘fighter’ image during RNC finale

The president of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will take the stage on Thursday night before Donald Trump officially accepts the Republican presidential nomination – just days after an assassination attempt.

Trump has embraced Dana White, one of his most vocal supporters outside of politics, and the hugely popular martial arts franchise he runs, appearing at several of the organization’s live events over the past year as he continues to grapple with lawsuits.

With an unfiltered and unorthodox style similar to Trump’s, the UFC boss will now front and introduce his old friend as the finale of the Republican National Convention.

Their friendship dates back to at least 2001.

At the time, Mr. White, an Irish-American college dropout turned boxing instructor, had gone from managing two mixed martial arts (MMA) champions to UFC president.

MMA faced a decline. After then-U.S. Senator John McCain labeled it “human cockfighting” and led a campaign to ban the UFC, events were relegated to smaller markets.

“This brand was so bad, venues didn’t even want us. Arenas didn’t want us,” Mr. White said in 2022.

But after New Jersey legalized the sport in 2000, he continued: “Trump literally called us. He said, ‘Come to my house, do the event here. We’ll have you at the Trump Taj Mahal.’”

The now-defunct Atlantic City casino and hotel was later used as the venue for the MMA events UFC 31 and UFC 32. Trump attended both fights, for the first fight and stayed until the last, White said.

Both events raised the company’s profile and helped it secure larger venues for future events. The UFC is now the largest MMA promotion in the world and is currently valued at $12.3 billion (£9.5 billion).

And Mr. White has remained loyal to Trump throughout his evolution from business to politics.

In 2016, he campaigned for his friend at the RNC, praising him in a short but fiery speech as “a hard-working man” with “great business acumen.”

“I know fighters,” he said. “Donald Trump is a fighter, and I know he will fight for this country.”

He endorsed him again at the 2020 RNC, defending Trump’s record in office and saying it was “critical to re-elect him.”

The UFC boss, who is brash and uncensored in both language and manner, has said he “doesn’t give a damn” about business and politics being mixed.

No stranger to controversy himself, he admitted last year to beating his wife after a drunken altercation at a New Year’s Eve party was caught on video. He has since apologized.

While Trump faced criminal, civil and other legal challenges after his presidency, he was Mr. White’s guest at several special events.

In the past year, Trump has attended at least four such events, often making an entrance like a fighter, with background music and an entourage.

His last scheduled appearance was halted last Saturday by an attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania.

The UFC is full of fighters who speak out in support of traditionally conservative values, including several self-proclaimed “pro-American patriots.”

While it does involve female fighters, the sport represents a hyper-masculine nature that fits well with the image the Trump campaign is projecting.

Each time, Trump was greeted with thunderous applause from the clearly partisan crowd and given a VIP seat near the octagon, the main fighting ring.

But he likely can’t replicate this growing love affair in other sporting arenas, including those with Trump-friendly audiences like Nascar and the PGA Tour, and the formerly Trump-friendly WWE.

Meanwhile, the failed assassination attempt on Trump has made his friend even more supportive of him for re-election.

“Everybody wants to be the tough guy. But when the (expletive) comes down, you find out who the tough guys are and who the tough guys aren’t,” Mr. White told The Pat McAfee Show this week.

“This dude is the legit, ultimate, American badass of all time.”

According to media reports, Trump rewrote the speech he gave on Thursday after Saturday’s shooting to explicitly call for unity.

But if Mr. White’s previous speeches at the convention are any guide, his introduction to the main event may not strike the same conciliatory tone.

The convention will also feature controversial professional wrestling legend Hulk Hogan.

And as a Trump deputy put it, the former president’s step onto the stage will be like “Hogan at Wrestlemania.”

By BBC News

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