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Former US President Donald Trump received a warm welcome at UFC 287 on Saturday night, where he sat in the front row alongside Mike Tyson and Dana White in the Miami-Dade Arena.
During the event, Mr. Trump conversed with Kid Rock, and UFC fighter Kevin Holland came over to speak to him after a knockout win.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAfter hometown UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal’s loss to Gilbert Burns, Masvidal praised Mr. Trump as the “greatest president in history” and led the crowd in a “let’s go Brandon chant,” a derogatory reference to President Joe Biden.
The event took place as a Reuters/Ipsos survey revealed growing Republican support for Mr. Trump despite his recent arrest and arraignment in New York.
On his social media app, Truth Social, Mr. Trump boasted about his poll numbers, claiming he was ahead of his main Republican rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Mr. Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to alleged hush money payments to p*rn star Stormy Daniels and two others.
Despite facing legal issues, Mr. Trump received a warm welcome from the Kesaya Center crowd, who greeted him with a loud USA chant upon his entrance.
During a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Masvidal called Mr. Trump the “greatest president in the history of the world,” and led the crowd in the “let’s go Brandon” chant.
In the main event of the night, Kiwi-Nigerian fighter Israel Adesanya reclaimed his UFC middleweight title with a spectacular second-round knockout of Brazilian rival Alex Pereira.
It was the fourth fight between the pair, with Pereira beating Adesanya twice in kickboxing before following the Nigerian-New Zealander into mixed martial arts, where he took Adesanya’s UFC title with a TKO in November.
But at the fourth time of asking, Adesanya finally beat his long-time rival, freezing Pereira with a right hook in Round 2 before dropping the champion with a one-two and finishing the fight with a hammer fist.
