UFC boss Dana White says his close friendship with former United States president Donald Trump is "unexplainable" - after decades of being pals.
The controversial former president saw a number of his high-profile friendships with celebrities and business leaders crumble during his run to the White House in 2016. But White stayed loyal to Trump, and risked backlash to speak at the Republican National Convention on his behalf before engaging in a number of his rallies over the following few years.
Their relationship began early in White's tenure with the UFC, when the pair worked together to put on a number of events featuring star names like Chuck Liddel, BJ Penn and Randy Couture. The shows were held at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and saw the pair become close as they went about arranging fights.
"This guy has been so good to me it's unexplainable," Trump told Tucker Carlson earlier this week after detailing his decision to speak for Trump at the RNC. "He's been a very good friend to me since the day I met him.
"When we bought this company it had such a bad stigma attached to it and the sport that we couldn't even get into venues, they didn't want us.
"Donald Trump saw that this thing could possibly be big, plus he's a sports guy who loves sports, and he offered us to come do the event at the Trump Taj Mahal at Atlantic City. He cut us a very fair deal and we went down there and did two events with him where he showed up for the first fight and stayed until the last fight.
"Imagine back then; Trump brand is way up, UFC brand is way down, but he took us in and he was great. Everything that ever happened to me in my career after that day, the first guy to reach out and say congratulations was Donald Trump; whether it was a letter or one time we were on the cover of the New York Times.
"He said 'I always knew you were going to do it, Dana, congratulations', and he sent me the paper. He sent me a pen one time congratulating me. He's always sending something to say congratulations; a guy who is genuinely happy for your success."
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It is understood that a number of well-known celebrities opted against speaking at the RNC for Trump in 2016 due to negative media coverage around his campaign. Radio host Howard Stern has publicly stated that he turned down his request to speak, with White ultimately taking the mantle.
"He called me one day and started the conversation like this: 'If you don't want to do this, I completely understand and there are no hard feelings. But I would be honoured if you would speak for me at the Republican National Convention'," White explained. "I just said 'I'll be there'.
"I said 'you're the best, man. You've always been a great guy to me, you've been a good friend to me,' and I spoke that day. Let me tell you what, after that day when I spoke for him at the Convention, our friendship went to a whole different level."
