President-elect Donald Trump walked out to a roaring standing ovation just ahead of the start of the UFC pay-per-view card at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, combining two things close to his heart: fierce battles inside the octagon and New York City.
Trump was accompanied by UFC President Dana White and the pair headed to their cageside seats to Kid Rock’s “American Bad Ass.”
A return to Madison Square Garden meant revisiting the place where a comedian caused an uproar at a Trump rally last month by likening Puerto Rico to a “floating island of garbage.” Yet Trump continues to relish visits to New York, where he lived for decades, before moving to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
UFC aired a video package of Trump’s road to reclaiming the White House, calling it, “The great comeback in American History,” while fans stood and applauded. Trump, wearing a red tie, pumped his fist toward the crowd when the video ended.
The president-elect also had his clenched fists pumping back and forth and briefly danced to the Village People’s “YMCA” just outside the cage. He later again thrust his fist skyward as “Takin’ Care of Business” played.
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