Former U.S. President Donald Trump has congratulated Vitor Belfort for his first-round demolition of boxing legend Evander Holyfield.
44-year-old Belfort made light work of 58-year-old Evander Holyfield in the main event of Triller Fight Club Legends 2 on Saturday. The former UFC light heavyweight swarmed Holyfield with a flurry of strikes before the ref stepped in to end the bout less than two minutes into round one.
Calling the fight ringside at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. was none other than the 45th President of the United States. In one of the more curious commentary booths in history, he was joined by his son, Donald Trump Jr., former UFC heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos and welterweight Jorge Masvidal, a loyal Trump supporter.
And it seems so too is Belfort. Seconds before entering the ring, “The Phenom” passionately declared “Let’s make America great again” — a nod to Trump’s famous election slogan.
Donald Trump Praises Vitor Belfort And Evander Holyfield
If Belfort intended to return the nation to greatness by knocking out one of its most beloved boxing legends, he did just that. And the former President was impressed.
Post-fight, Trump, the official host of the Triller event, heaped praise on Belfort, before admitting he had his doubts the Brazilian could pull it off.
“You are some fighter,” Trump said (h/t MMA Junkie). “I have to tell you, you have a couple of friends between Jorge and Junior, and my son, my ‘junior,’ they said you’re going to do fantastically well…I said, ‘Well, but boxing’s not his thing.’ Junior said, ‘Yes it is, you just watch.’”
Trump then afforded the Brazilian-born, now naturalized U.S. citizen Belfort the ultimate praise from an American President.
“You are a great patriot and we appreciate it,” Trump added when speaking to Belfort.
The former President also offered high praise of Holyfield, who had taken the fight on a week’s notice, and after more than a decade’s absence from the ring.
“Vitor, your stock was very high, but it’s even higher tonight because you beat somebody who is, I don’t know, I think probably one of the greatest of all time,” Trump continued. “There’s no question about Evander and we love Evander. I know Evander, and I’ve never seen that happen to Evander. I’ve been with Evander a long time and it’s just one of those things, you were really fantastic.”
You can view the video below (h/t MMA Fighting).
What do you think? Did you enjoy Donald Trump’s commentary?
