In a surprising turn of events, former President Donald J. Trump and Donald Trump Jr. served as commentators for Triller’s pay-per-view event featuring boxing icon Evander Holyfield facing off with mixed-martial-artist legend Vitor Belfort. Between fights, the commentator and chief fielded questions from the audience and served on a panel of sports experts.
Former UFC contender Belfort won by an easy technical knockout at the end of the very first found, after the referee ended the match due to Holyfield’s inability to defend himself.
Trump had nothing but praise for the 44 year old Brazilian fighter. “You are a great patriot and we appreciate it,” 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.”
True to his reputation for stirring things up, Trump suggested that Belfort could fight either Jorge Masvidal or Junior dos Santos – two professional MMA fighters who were present at the event in the commentary booth.
“They say there is a lot of people watching,” the former Apprentice star said with a smirk between fights. “I can’t imagine why.” The appearance was one of Trump’s most public appearances since leaving office.
Known for their unorthodox approach to boxing, Triller began their rise last winter, when the new promotion presented an exhibition fight between legends Roy Jones Jr. and Mike Tyson. They more recently featured the much-watched bout between internet celebrity Jake Paul and former Bellator champ Ben Askren.
Triller did not reveal publicly how much Trump was paid, though Ryan Kavanaugh, whose company owns a majority stake in the app, said Barack Obama will be offered a commentary position on a future boxing event.
Whether you love them or hate them, there is no doubt Triller puts on one heck of an… interesting show.
For some of the highlights, take a look at this video posted by MMA Weekly.