“We Would Be Blown Away and Honoured” – Vladimir Putin Gets an Open Invitation From Dana White After Donald Trump’s Creates Waves Visiting UFC 302

UFC CEO Dana White has said that he would be “blown away” if Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a UFC event. Speaking to reporters after UFC 302, headlined by Russian superstar Islam Makhachev who retained his lightweight title against Dustin Poirier, the UFC boss was asked what his reaction would be if Putin attended a hypothetical UFC event in Russia just like Donald Trump did in the States.

While Putin is persona non grata in the US (and indeed the rest of the Western world) at the moment because of the situation in Ukraine, White made it clear that he would be welcome to any event they put on in Russia.

“You know it’s funny because any President of a country that comes to a fight obviously we would be blown away and honored to have at any of our fights. So obviously Russia, I’m sure the President of the country would be more than welcome to come,” he told reporters at the UFC 302 post-fight press conference.

Donald Trump has been a regular fixture of the UFC. The New York native is very good friends with Dana White and a huge fan of the promotion. So much so that he found time to attend UFC 302 despite being in the midst of his Presidential campaign and coming off the back of his conviction earlier this week. And while Trump’s fondness for the UFC has more to do with Dana White and the love he receives from the UFC crowd, Putin’s fondness for martial arts stems from his credentials as a bona fide martial artist.

Vladimir Putin met Khabib after UFC 229 victory over McGregor

Russian President Vladimir Putin is a veritable martial artist and holds a genuine black belt in judo, and has trained in sambo, the martial art Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev both have as their base. The 71-year-old was also awarded an honorary black belt in taekwondo by the World Taekwondo Federation in 2013 (which was withdrawn by the body in 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine).

And his association with MMA is not new, with Putin having made an appearance at an M-1 Global event in 2012 to witness MMA legend Fedor Emilianenko knockout Pedro Rizzo in 84 seconds. After Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Conor McGregor at their UFC 229 bout in 2017, Putin met with Khabib and his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov to congratulate them.

There he would commend the father-son duo for their achievement and went on to mildly chide ‘The Eagle’ for the brawl he got into after his victory over ‘Mac’, advising Khabib to follow the “written and unwritten rules” of the game. And if the UFC should decide to put on a fourth card in Russia, it would not be a shocking turn of events if the Russian President turned up. But that does not seem like even a remote possibility at the moment, given the sanctions imposed on the country.

You can check out the full results for UFC 302 here.