President Donald Trump was met with a standing ovation and cheers as he entered Miami’s Kaseya Center for a UFC match on April 12.
While walking to his cageside seat Saturday evening, Trump shook hands with supporters as some waved trademark red “Make America Great Again” hats. Trump, who said it was a “great honor” to receive such a reaction from the crowd, attended the event for several hours before flying back north to his home in Palm Beach.
“It says we’re doing a good job. If we weren’t doing a good job, we’d get the opposite,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Trump has long been a UFC fan and sports enthusiast, frequently attending major fights and maintaining an enduring friendship with UFC President and CEO Dana White.
The president entered the Miami arena with White by his side. Trump embraced podcast host Joe Rogan, a former UFC commentator and analyst. Rogan and White House adviser Elon Musk sat beside the president during the event.
Other members from the administration who attended include Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., FBI Director Kash Patel, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
While Democrats and some Republicans have been critical of Trump’s policies, particularly some of the recent tariff announcements, those concerns were absent at the UFC event on Saturday.
“Every one of them came up at the end, and they were great,” Trump said. “I mean, they’re all warriors, modern-day warriors.”
Fighter Dominick Reyes even walked over to the side of the Octagon after he won his match and acknowledged the president. He took a photo with Trump following a post-fight interview.
Australian Alexander Volkanovski won his 10th championship fight in a row, prevailing against Brazil’s Diego Lopes early Sunday morning via unanimous decision in the featherweight matchup.
Saturday was the president’s first UFC event since starting his second term earlier this year. It occurred weeks after Trump attended the Saudi-sponsored LIV golf tournament at his Miami golf club.
In February, Trump attended the Daytona 500 and the Super Bowl. He also sat cageside at the UFC championship fight in New York in November, not long after winning the election. Some have seen the president’s close ties to UFC as helping him among the young-male voting bloc.
