Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s Wealth Fund Chief Draw Attention at Star-Studded UFC Night
President-elect Donald Trump returned to Madison Square Garden on Saturday night to take in all the action at UFC 309, and he had plenty of company in the stands.
Joining the 45th and now 47th POTUS inside the world’s most famous arena were Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, Kid Rock, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and of course, Dana White.
Trump was also spotted on camera speaking with the head of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Yasir Al-Rumayya.
For those unfamiliar, the PIF is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, which is controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and governed by Al-Rumayyan. According to a report from Reuters, the PIF was estimated to have about $925 billion in assets in July.
The PIF has become a major player in global sports over the last several years. Aside from owning the Newcastle United football club, the fund was a major backer of LIV Golf and leveraged a merger with the PGA which is still being negotiated.
Saudi Arabia also hosts biannual WWE events and has seemingly taken over the world of boxing, putting together some of the biggest possible fights like Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou, Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk, and Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol.
‘Bones’ hands Donald Trump His UFC Belt following third-round KO of Stipe Miocic
While the night gave us some pretty solid fights, including a brutal third-round body kick KO in the long-awaited main event between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, the entire night felt more like a love letter to Trump and his improbable defeat of Kamala Harris to once again take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
‘Bones’ had the most egregious display of admiration for Trump, imitating his YMCA dance following his 28th career win and even going so far as to hand the 34-time convicted felon the UFC heavyweight championship belt.
