President Donald Trump interrupted MMA fighter Colby Covington’s post-fight interview Saturday, calling him while he was speaking to ESPN live.
Covington was giving an interview with ESPN after defeating Tyron Woodley in a fifth-round TKO when he suddenly looked at his phone and exclaimed, “POTUS is calling me!” (RELATED: UFC President Has An Incredible Plan To Host Fights During The Coronavirus Pandemic. Will It Work?)
WATCH:
President Trump called @ColbyCovMMA during the #UFCVegas11 post show ???? pic.twitter.com/FJsUMQV8Xk
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 20, 2020
Covington, who was wearing a red KAG hat that was clearly autographed by the president, went ahead and answered the call, saying, “Mr. President!”
“Aren’t you going to put that on speaker for us?” the reporter asked, and Covington complied.
“This is a first,” the reporter added as the president got on the line.
“You are — you are a great fighter, man,” Trump said. “I’ll tell you, you make it so easy, I don’t know how you do that. Congratulations. I wanted to watch that fight tonight, I wanted to watch it. You were great.”
“Thank you so much, Mr. President,” Covington replied, adding, “You gave me the dragon energy when you shook my hand on Sunday at your rally. It doesn’t matter if King Kong was in front of me, I was not going to lose after getting to shake your hand and be at your rally.”
“Oh, you were not going to lose,” Trump replied. “He was a strong looking guy too, a great fighter who’s a champ.”
Trump went on to say again that Covington had made it look easy, mentioning his North Carolina rally and adding, “I’m proud of you, man. I’m proud of you. I just made a big speech, I had 35,000 people and I said I gotta get home now to watch Colby.”
Trump then asked Covington whether Woodley had given him “much of a problem,” noting again that he looked like a strong fighter.
“Yeah, strong guy, former champion, but it didn’t matter who was in there, Mr. President,” Covington replied. “After getting to see you, I don’t care if there was a superman in there, I was beating anybody.”
“That’s great, Colby,” Trump said. “I’m proud of you, man. I’m a big fan and I’m proud of you. You’re tough. You’re tough. You have the right spirit, so now go win the next one.”
“I’m your fan, you’re my fan,” Trump laughed. “We’re two of a kind.”
Covington then promised to bring his championship belt to the Oval Office “after you win November 3rd in a landslide.”