President-elect Donald Trump celebrated his election victory on Saturday night by attending an Ultimate Fighting Championship event with billionaire friend Elon Musk and cheering fans at a heavily guarded Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The president-elect’s visit to UFC 309 — and the site of his inflammatory Oct. 27 rally, where a comedian called Puerto Rico an ‘island of garbage’ — was steeped in symbolism.

Weidman knocked out Anderson Silva on July 6, 2013, at UFC 162 to win the UFC middleweight championship. After three successful title defenses, Weidman lost to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194 on Dec. 12, 2015. Weidman has gone 3-6 since that fight. A broken leg suffered in a 2021 fight kept him out of the Octagon for more than two years.

Known by some in the mixed martial arts world as the "Combatant in Chief," Trump counts UFC President Dana White as a close friend and considers fans of the sport part of his political base.

A return to Madison Square Garden meant revisiting the place where a comedian caused an uproar at a Trump rally last month by likening Puerto Rico to a "floating island of garbage."

President-elect Donald Trump is set to make his return to Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, visiting the New York City landmark arena for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event.

President-elect Donald Trump flew to New York City on Saturday for what sources said were plans to attend an Ultimate Fighting Championship event at a heavily guarded Madison Square Garden. The Trump transition team would not say where Trump was going on Saturday,

The UFC played a video montage of Trump’s comeback to the White House and called it “The great comeback in American History,” as the fans applauded and cheered for the Republican leader.

The President-elect returns to the NYC venue where he held a massive and controversial rally The post Donald Trump Expected to Make UFC Appearance at Madison Square Garden appeared first on TheWrap.

A middleweight bout between former champion Chris Weidman and Eryk Anders was pulled from UFC 309 on Saturday when Anders fell ill from "unspecified medical issues," the UFC announced during the broadcast for the event.