Former United States President Donald Trump gave high praise to former UFC champion Victor Belfort, for his unexpected first round stoppage of Hall of Famer Evander Holyfield on Saturday night.
Trump was ringside as a special commenter for the pay-per-view event being staged by Triller at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
Joining Trump in the commentary booth was his son, Donald Trump Jr., and MMA stars Junior Dos Santos and Jorge Masvidal.
Belfort, 44-years-old, dropped Holyfield with an uppercut and then finished the fight after unleashing a barrage of punches, as Holyfield was just covering up and not punching back – prompting the referee to step in and wave off the bout.
The bout drew an enormous amount of controversy, because Holyfield – a former undisputed cruiserweight and heavyweight champion – is 58-years-old. And besides his age, Holyfield had been inactive for over a decade.
Given Holyfield’s age and level of inactivity, the outcome was not surprising to many observers – with Belfort being 44-years-old and possessing power in both hands.
Trump, however, was in awe of Belfort’s win.
“You are some fighter. I have to tell you, you have a couple of friends between Jorge and Junior, and my son, my ‘junior,’ they said you’re going to do fantastically well…I said, ‘Well, but boxing’s not his thing.’ Junior said, ‘Yes it is, you just watch,’” Trump said.
“Vitor, your stock was very high, but it’s even higher tonight because you beat somebody who is, I don’t know, I think probably one of the greatest of all time. There’s no question about Evander and we love Evander. I know Evander, and I’ve never seen that happen to Evander. I’ve been with Evander a long time and it’s just one of those things, you were really fantastic.”