Colby Covington returned to the win column on Saturday night and received congratulations from President Donald Trump as a result.
Covington enjoyed a dominant performance over bitter rival Tyron Woodley in the UFC Vegas 11 headliner which ultimately led to a fifth-round TKO win. It was all the more impressive considering Covington never looked like he really got into second gear.
Trump Calls Covington During ESPN Interview
And during his post-fight interview on ESPN, he received a call from Trump in what was a first in mixed martial arts.
“You are a great fighter, man. I’ll tell you,” Trump said. “You make it so easy, I don’t know how the hell you do that. Congratulations, I wanted to watch that fight tonight, I wanted to watch it — you were great.
“Thank you so much Mr. President,” Covington replied. “You gave me the dragon energy when you shook my hand on Sunday at your rally and it doesn’t matter if King Kong was in front of me I was not going to lose after getting to shake your hand at your rally.”
“I’m proud of you, man. I’m a big fan and I’m proud,” Trump said in response.
You can watch the full call below:
President Trump called @ColbyCovMMA during the #UFCVegas11 post show 📱 pic.twitter.com/FJsUMQV8Xk
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 20, 2020
Covington also attended a Donald Trump rally earlier this week in Nevada along with UFC president Dana White, Henry Cejudo, Justin Gaethje and MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz.
