Dana White says President-elect Donald Trump had plans to attend UFC 205
NEW YORK — The UFC has enjoyed many celebrity guests over the years, but the President of the United States attending a fight would certainly be the biggest.
UFC president Dana White told TMZ on Thursday that new President-elect Donald Trump told him that he would plan to attend the historic card on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden after the election.
Trump ultimately won the election on Tuesday, defeating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"Donald originally told me that he would come to the fight if he won," White revealed. "I don't think Donald really realized what his duties were going to be had he won. I think he's meeting with (President Barack) Obama today, I don't know, we'll see. No pressure to come but it wouldn't suck if he came."
Trump did have his first meeting with Obama on Thursday where the two leaders spoke for about 90 minutes before giving a statement to the press.
Obviously, Trump has a lot to deal with between now and January when he's officially inaugurated into office, so attending a fight — even one as big as UFC 205 — might not land on his radar right now.
White did manage to attend Trump's celebration on Tuesday night after the election results were returned thanks to a special invite from the President-elect's family.
"His family reached out to me that night. I was in the hotel room watching the results and they had me come down to the party so I went to the party that night," White said. "They've been very good to me. So good luck to them."
White was a big supporter for Trump throughout his campaign and even spoke for him during the Republican National Convention earlier this year.
Now that Trump is about to become the President, White doesn't expect that he'll be speaking to him quite as often but still considers him a good friend after first meeting more than a decade ago.
"He's been a friend of mine for 15, 16 years. I'm happy for him," White said. "He's the president now, you know what I expect from him? I expect nothing. Good for him.
"He went out there, he worked hard, he campaigned, he's the President now, he won and I don't expect to be on the phone with him everyday or anything. I'm happy for him, and hopefully he gets in there and does some good things for this country."
