Donald Trump Receives Mixed Response at UFC 244

The MMA promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to the historic Madison Square Garden this evening for UFC 244, featuring a massive bout between Nick Diaz and Jorge Masvidal for the new BMF Championship that will be rewarded by Dwayne Johnson himself. But The Rock isn’t the only big name in attendance, as the President of the United States has also made his appearance at a second major sporting event in just as many weeks. Donald Trump is in attendance at UFC 244, marking the first time a sitting U.S. President has attended a live UFC event.

Of course, as with all things politics in this country, Trump and his entourage received a mixed response with an outpouring of boos mixing with cheers.

The site of the event also saw protestors gathering outside of the Garden, though they weren’t raising awareness for any specific cause and mostly dedicated to arguing against his presidency.

Trump attended a World Series game last week in Washington D.C. between the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros. The President was greeted with a loud chorus of boos when he was introduced to the crowd. Some Nationals players have also declined an invite to the White House after they won the top prize in Major League Baseball.

Of course, people aren’t attending the event to get in the mix of politics. They’re focused on the fight between Diaz and Masvidal, and while the winner will be named the “Baddest Motherf**ker” in the UFC, there are likely more championship aspirations in their futures.

And with the Rock on hand, the event is guaranteed to be electric. Johnson recently revealed he’ll be making a movie based on the life of decorated UFC fighter Mark Kerr.

“Mark Kerr’s story is such an incredible story,” Johnson said about the project. “Like all of us, and like a lot of these fighters, he battled these demons — these demons of addiction, these demons of mental health, these demons of getting out and the pressure of fighting in front of 50,000 people and what that does to somebody. Here’s a guy who has gone through it all, hit rock bottom, but the best part about Mark Kerr is that, like all of us in this room and all these fighters, these warriors, is that everyday, we get up and we want to do a little bit better tomorrow than we did today.”

Stay tuned to ComicBook for more news coming out of UFC 244.

Cover photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images