Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Trump 2020 campaign senior advisor Kimberly Guilfoyle watched UFC superstar Colby Covington defeat Robbie Lawler in New Jersey on August 3.
“Fight hard tonight Colby. You are a real Champ! #MAGA,” President Trump tweeted before the fight.
Colby Covington holds the claim of the only UFC fighter to ever visit the White House. President Trump met with Colby there in 2018, after he won the interim welterweight championship belt.
“You know you got a big fight when the President of the United States is tweeting about it,” tweeted UFC head Dana White, who has also been to the White House.
Like @POTUS @realDonaldTrump always says: Promises made. Promises kept. Pleasure to finally meet you Mr. President. Thank you for always putting America first! #maga #GreatAmericanWinningMachine ???????? pic.twitter.com/yYZWkdd5wS
— Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) August 2, 2018
Covington was dominant. It was his first UFC fight in about a year.
“Donald Trump, Mr. President, he tweeted out support for me before the fight, and then after the fight, he gave me a call,” Covington said after his August 3 win at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, via USA Today. “He just said he appreciates everything I’ve done. He wants me to come back to the White House and shake his hand again and hang out with him in the Oval Office.”
Immediately after being announced as the winner, Covington thanked the Trumps for showing up to his fight.
Proud to be at #UFCFightNight supporting our friend @ColbyCovMMA #MakeAmericaGreatAgain pic.twitter.com/QZOIu5pbhg
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) August 3, 2019
“Yeah I was truly inspired when the First Family came into the building and came to see me backstage. Let’s give it up to the Trumps, they’re in the building tonight. They’re keeping America great! Yeah!” Covington said from the octagon, via UFC.
Covington also thanked the U.S. military for the work they do.
The Trumps arrived at the Prudential Center around 10 a.m. so they could see some of the other matches that were scheduled for the event, TMZ reported.
Covington defeated Lawler by unanimous decision. He put on a blistering offensive display that overwhelmed Lawler. He threw 541 attempted strikes during the match, setting a new UFC record, ESPN reported. Covington landed 172 strikes, according to Forbes. Covington also took Lawler down 10 times on 18 attempts. The win puts Covington on a seven-fight win streak.
Love him or hate him @ColbyCovMMA is a real problem. 500 strikes and 20 takedown attempts over 5 rounds is just insanity!!!
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) August 3, 2019
“Love him or hate him @ColbyCovMMA is a real problem. 500 strikes and 20 takedown attempts over 5 rounds is just insanity!!!” tweeted UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier.
Robbie Lawler is the former UFC welterweight champion, a title Covington hopes to claim later this year. Lawler made 169 attempted strikes and landed only 77 of them.
Covington just looked in much better shape than Lawler. Covington said in another post-fight interview that he did not get to go through a full training camp and had only four weeks to prepare for the fight. Another obstacle was an injury to his eyelid he sustained while training, resulting in a curbed regimen, Colby said on ESPN MMA.
Covington is now looking forward to a fight with welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. According to the ESPN MMA post-fight interview, Covington mentioned that a November match at New York City’s Madison Square Garden would be an ideal place and time. Usman is on a 10-fight win streak, according to Sherdog. A victory would give Covington the official welterweight championship belt.
