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Donald Trump was in Las Vegas last night where he held an event to deliver a speech following the Nevada Republican caucus. During his 16-minute speech, he shouted out several athletes, starting, of course, with his beloved golf, giving praise to former winners and stating, “I like golf and I like people who can play golf and there aren’t too many that can play golf” before calling upon a name familiar to those of us in the combat sports space—former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland.
Sean Strickland gets the golden mention
The former president continued on,
“If you like to fight, if you want to fight, you can fight this guy. He’s available, but you’re not going to last long. You won’t do very well. Sean Strickland….Sean Strickland, he’s a nasty looking guy. Look at those ears. You look at those ears and oh, I said, ‘I want no part of him.’ Thank you very much, Sean, we appreciate it.”
*Advance to the 4:21 mark of the video for Trump’s comments on Sean Strickland
The crowd seemed to enjoy Trump’s commentary, even though some of it was unintelligible due to clapping and cheering and a mic that seemed to have the volume dialed down too low. It should be reiterated that this was not a UFC event, it was a campaign destination. When watching the video, though, several of the people mentioned were in the room, including Strickland. Trump even scanned the room looking for him, with one hand held above his brow, searching for the outspoken fighter. It should also be noted that the statement was prepared in advance, as Mr. Trump was reading from cards.
In all Colby Covington’s pandering to the former president, not once was he included in a speech. Not once did Trump mention his name spontaneously. As a matter of fact, Trump left the arena in the middle of Covington’s post-fight interview after his fight with Leon Edwards at UFC 296. Covington praised Trump profusely, but he was not about to stick around to hear it. It would appear that Big Don isn’t keen on buddying up to fighters that put on stinker performances.
And while Sean Strickland might not be the champ anymore, his fan following has continued to grow, thanks to passionate diatribes on the issue du jour and the way he lays himself bare with the appearance of brutal honesty about his past. The difference between Sean and Colby is that Sean was able to capture a belt, and he did it against one of the most dominant middleweight champions the UFC has ever seen. Colby seems to have hit his ceiling and “champion” isn’t going to be a part of it. In a nutshell, Donald Trump doesn’t want to associate with losers, and Colby Covington looked like a chump in his last, losing outing.