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Donald Trump once applauded Henry Cejudo and Justin Gaethje during his 2020 re-election campaign for their outstanding athletic achievements.
In September 2020, a select group of UFC fighters and the head of the company, Dana White, were featured guests at an indoor rally hosted by Trump in Nevada. The event took place at an Xtreme manufacturing facility in Henderson, where notable attendees included former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington, former two-division champion Cejudo, and then-interim lightweight champion Gaethje, accompanied by their manager, Ali Abdelaziz.
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During his speech at the event, the former POTUS lauded the UFC boss, whom he has known as a friend for many years:
"Dana brought along a few of his friends and these are not people you want to pick a fight with, because under those suits are a lot of muscles. A lot of power, a lot of genius for fighting and for other things."
Trump proceeded to commend 'Triple C':
"Another great, great champion, Henry Cejudo, who is one of the best in the world. Henry, please stand. You won the championship twice, right, Henry? He won it twice. Don’t mess with him. His brother Alonzo is here as well Alonzo Cruz, thank you very much. Alonzo does not mess with Henry, he learned that a long time ago."
He added:
"So one of the best fighters in the world, he’s got a tremendous fight coming up against I guess the No.1-rated pound for pound fighter, Justin Gaethje! Please stand up, Justin. And you feel good about that fight? He said he’s going to knock him out."
Check out Donald Trump's comments below:
Trump's passion for combat sports has been unmistakable, evidenced by his regular attendance at numerous UFC events in recent years. The former US president once again demonstrated his enthusiasm by joining the ranks of esteemed celebrity guests at UFC 296 last December, where he was spotted in the VIP section of the T-Mobile Arena to support Covington.
Henry Cejudo's UFC 298 fight will influence retirement decision
Having already returned from retirement in 2023, Henry Cejudo might be gearing up for his last appearance in the octagon in 2024.
'Triple C' suffered a championship defeat to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 last May. He perceives his upcoming bout against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298 as a title eliminator, with the opportunity to challenge the winner of the UFC 299 main event featuring bantamweight titleholder Sean O'Malley and Marlon Vera later in the year.
However, should the former two-division champion not achieve the desired success on Feb. 17, he acknowledges that it could mark his last MMA career fight.
During a recent appearance on The HJR Experiment podcast (via MMA Fighting), 'Triple C' stated:
"I think after losing to Aljamain, I think if I was going to go maybe down the ladder, I would probably be done with fighting again. Yeah, man. Because it’s just like, this sport is hard, man. Training camps, having two kids and things like that. It's all or nothing, man."
