Dana White, UFC head and $1m Trump donor, added to Republican convention

Dana White, the Ultimate Fighting Championship president, will stump for Donald Trump on the final night of this week’s Republican national convention, the Trump campaign announced on Sunday.

White joins a roster of civilian speakers for the mostly-virtual affair that includes Patricia and Mark McCloskey, the white couple who pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters in St Louis, and Nick Sandmann, the Kentucky high school student who successfully sued the Washington Post and CNN over claims he acted confrontationally towards a Native American leader during a Washington DC march in 2019.

The face of mixed martial arts’ biggest promotion is a longtime champion of the US president, having delivered an animated speech in support of then-candidate Trump on the second night of the 2016 convention in Cleveland.

White, 51, has also made significant contributions to Trump over the past five years, most recently a $1m donation in November to America First Action, a pro-Trump Super Pac. Two weeks earlier, Trump appeared at a UFC card at Madison Square Garden as White’s guest, becoming the first sitting president ever to attend a mixed martial arts event.

The kinship between White and Trump can be traced to 2001, when the UFC was widely regarded as illegitimate thanks in large part to politicians like then-Arizona senator John McCain, who infamously branded it “human cockfighting”.

But Trump allowed White’s beleaguered promotion to host a number of early events at his Taj Mahal resort in Atlantic City, lending a sense of mainstream credibility that helped put the company on a course to profitability.

White’s speech at the Republican convention in 2016, which came nine days after the UFC was sold for approximately $4bn to a group led by Hollywood talent agency WME-IMG, leveraged this narrative as a demonstration of Trump’s loyalty and pro-business inclinations.

Related: Why the UFC is a perfect platform for Donald Trump’s political ideology

“In 2001, my partners [Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta] and I bought the UFC, and it was basically considered a bloodsport,” White said. “State athletic commissions didn’t support us. Arenas around the world refused to host our events. Nobody took us seriously. Nobody. Except Donald Trump. Donald was the first guy that recognized the potential that we saw in the UFC, and encouraged us to build our business.

“He hosted our first two events at [the Trump Taj Mahal], he dealt with us personally, he got in the trenches with us, and he made a deal that worked for everyone. On top of that, he showed up for the fight on Saturday night and sat in the front row. Yeah, he’s that guy. He shows up.

“Donald championed the UFC before it was popular, before it grew into a successful business, and I will always be so grateful to him for standing with us in those early days, so tonight I stand with Donald Trump.”

White went on to praise Trump’s business acumen, work ethic and steadfast friendship.

“Let me tell you three things that I respect about this man. First, Donald has great business instincts. He supports businesses of all sizes. He’ll make it possible for them to grow and succeed, which is the backbone of a strong economy.

“Second, Donald is a hard worker. This guy is going to get up there, he’s going to roll up his sleeves. He will work with people and he will put in the time to get things done.

“Third, for over 15 years, Donald Trump has been a loyal and supportive friend, and I know that if I needed Donald, he would be there for me, just like he was when I first met him. He’s one of these guys that sometimes he’ll pick up the phone and call me and say ‘Hey, good luck with the fights tonight. I’m going to be watching,’ or whatever it is that we might have going on.”