UFC President Dana White thanked former President Donald Trump on Newsmax for being a ''good friend.''
Appearing Wednesday on "Greg Kelly Reports," White, who had struggled to get the UFC brand off the ground, thanked Trump.
In the early days of the UFC, when mixed martial arts was considered a ''blood sport'' by some, Trump helped White by letting him hold his UFC 30 event Feb. 23, 2001 at Trump Taj Mahal. It featured now-UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz, who closed out the event with a 30-second knockout of Evan Tanner.
"When you think about it, Trump's brand was [up] here, and UFC's brand was down here,'' White said. ''Not only did he get us a good deal and allow us to do the fight there, he showed up for the first fight of the night and stayed all night, and was there until the main event.
"Anything good that's ever happened to me in my career — he was the first guy to pick up the phone," White added to host Greg Kelly, "and say congratulations.
"I consider him a good friend."
Trump, whose friendship with White spans two decades, made an appearance at UFC 264.
In late April, Endeavor, UFC's parent company, went public, making the mixed martial arts programming a public commodity. White added, since a number of UFC champions have come from Africa, he plans to build training facilities there.
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