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Like any event featuring Conor McGregor, Saturday’s UFC 264 was packed with heavyweight celebrities.
From the only live broadcast we saw Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian, Justin Bieber, Dave Chappelle, Jared Leto and Megan Fox. And that’s not even half the full list of actors, musicians, sports stars and business moguls in attendance.
The only significant name we didn’t see on live TV was Donald Trump. The former president made receive a warm welcome from part of the crowd, especially of this type.
According to UFC President Dana White, excluding Trump from the broadcast was a misstep by the production team. As he explained to TMZ Sports…
What happened was we were getting ready to show him right between the main and main events. And I think you remember we showed OBJ? We showed OBJ, then it was supposed to go to David Spade, 2 Chainz, then the President.
And we had sort of a glitch in the truck. And then Conor’s fight ended in the (first) round. So we never had the opportunity.
Let me tell you what, a huge fucked up by my production crew, but it’s live TV, and these things happen.
White, who is longtime friends with Trump, said the production team should have known better. Now the rest of the world has been denied the chance to see the former president take his walk at a live UFC event.
I don’t even have to tell them, that’s just the whole part of the deal when we were doing it that night. And what also sucks is that you could have seen when he entered the arena. I lived it in New York, then I lived it in Vegas, there is no such thing.
The whole arena rises. The whole place stands up. Everyone has their phone. This is one of the craziest you will witness if you get into a live fight and the President walks in.
There could also be a potential backlash, given the political inclinations of the company’s top bosses. For that, White had this to say.
No one is telling me how to run this show. And I would never do that.
Politics aside, when a former president shows up, whether it’s Obama, whether it’s Trump, whether it’s Jimmy Carter, I don’t care who shows up. We would respect the former presidents of the United States.
Regardless of the end of the headliner, UFC 264 has always been a huge success. According to reports, the event drew 1.8 million PPV purchases, the second best-selling fight card after UFC 229’s 2.4 million purchases.
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