Former President Donald Trump received a raucous reaction on Saturday when he appeared at UFC 264 in Las Vegas, where Dustin Poirier defeated Conor McGregor in a clash of lightweight contenders.
So what
As the major sports leagues in the U.S. get increasingly “woke,” the Ultimate Fighting Championship might be one of the few remaining competitions where conservative spectators feel welcome.
What happened
Trump was met with a mixture of boos and cheers as he entered T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, but ultimately, chants of “USA! USA!” appeared to win out.
Why
There’s a growing perception that mixed martial arts is comparatively more resistant to progressive ideology than other sports. And there are a few reasons for why that may be the case.
- Some studies have shown a link between physical strength and politically conservative views.
- Trump’s links to the UFC: He has been a long-time booster of the sport and is friends with UFC president Dana White.
- Fighters have generally been able to express unpopular or controversial views without facing repercussions from fans or the UFC. It’s a luxury that athletes in more mainstream sports leagues don’t have.
Money quote: “Donald Trump is a fighter. We see a fighter in him,” Colby “Chaos” Covington, a top-ranked welterweight contender, told Politico last year. “He’s exposed the fake news. He’s got smear campaigns against him. The Hollywood elite is teamed up against him. And in him, we see a guy that is still resilient and still fighting back for the better of America.”
