President Donald Trump heaped praise on both Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman.
Both fighters were in attendance for separate Trump campaign events on Friday with Masvidal making an appearance at a “Latinos For Trump” event at Trump National Golf Club in Doral, Florida.
Trump singled Masvidal out as a champion and notably brought up his UFC 239 knockout win over Ben Askren.
“We have some real champions here,” Trump began. “And one I heard, in particular, I saw a very fast knockout not so long ago. Where’s Jorge? Where is Jorge? I don’t want to fight with him. Where is he? Where is he? Stand up, Jorge. Stand up. There he is.
“That’s the fastest knockout. I watched his — he was fighting this young superstar [Askren] who was going to be great, right? They were telling me how great he is. Man, I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings but he was supposed to be the future of the UFC but he had to go through this guy right here. Didn’t work out too well did it, Jorge? What a champion you are, thank you. That was the fastest (knockout). What was it? About a second? Two seconds? You ran across the ring and the guy was gone and that was the end of it. Did they have to pay you for that evening or not? Because you know, one second… that’s a good return. Great to have you. Big fan. Thank you, man.”
Masvidal would take to Twitter soon after.
“Can’t believe the president knows who I am. Humbled. Leader of the free world knows my name #theresurrection”
Can’t believe the president knows who I am. Humbled. Leader of the free world knows my name #theresurrection https://t.co/lOEpCvv67n
— Jorge Masvidal (@GamebredFighter) September 25, 2020
Trump Also Praises Usman
Trump would then head over to Cobb Galleria in Atlanta where Usman and his manager Ali Abdelaziz were in attendance.
Like Masvidal, Usman also received praise from the president.
“Does anybody like UFC?” Trump asked the crowd. “I’ll tell you what — Usman, I know who he is. He’s tough. That’s who he is. Kamaru Usman. Where is our champ? Come on, champ. Get up. Man, oh man, oh man. What a fighter you are! I don’t want to mess with him. I may weigh a couple of pounds more. Do you think I could take you in a fight, champ? I don’t think so. He goes, ‘no.’ I think you’re right, champ.
“I watched the fight you had a couple of months ago. Unbelievable talent but right up here too. It’s a combination. The muscles are important but you’ve got to have the other. He actually looks really good in a suit but he’s one of the few people who look better without a suit. There aren’t too many of us. There aren’t too many of us that can say that, right? Right, men? The men in this audience, eh? I just want to thank you, champion. Good luck. I’ll be watching. You have a big fight coming up. I’ll be watching and it’s a great group of people. A great group of champions. Thank you very much. Thank you.”
It would certainly be interesting to hear what Covington thinks of these recent interactions.
