Even if everything else in the popular culture, from country music to Bud Light and Jack Daniels, has seemed to go woke, UFC apparently hasn’t. Such was seen last night when fighter Jorge Masvidal led the crowd in a “Let’s Go Brandon” chant at the fight Trump showed up to.
The 38-year-old UFC star fighter had lost the fight to Gilbert Burns, and speaking to UFC commenter and podcast host Joe Rogan after the fight, announced his retirement. Saying that he “just doesn’t feel the same” when he steps into the octagon now, he pulled the curtain on his career, which has spanned more than 50 fights (his record is 36-15).
So, it was an emotional moment for Masvidal, but he quickly shifted gears and went from reflecting on and ending his career to supporting President Trump and mocking Slow Joe Biden. He pointed out that the recently indicted former president was at the Saturday night fight and called him “the best president in the history of the world.” He then called on the fans to keep Florida a red state.
But that wasn’t on. Moving from supporting Trump to attacking the left, Masvidal yelled that that “Let’s Go Brandon (expletive)” needs to be removed from power. He then led the crowd in an epic “Let’s Go Brandon” chant. He repeated it twice on the mic before exiting the octagon for the final time. Watch him here:
Wow. Jorge Masvidal retires and leads a chant of “Let’s go Brandon!” pic.twitter.com/ftpeJ8IhTJ
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) April 9, 2023
Commenters on Twitter loved the chant, saying things like “That chant is music to my ears!” and “And he also thanked Donald Trump and said ‘let’s keep this state red and take back power’. What a dude!”
Pennlive, commenting on Masvidal’s popularity in the UFC and a few recent losses of his that ended his career, said:
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Masvidal’s willingness to slug it out made him a fan favorite, and he had some big wins over the likes of Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone in his career. He also had a vicious flying knee knockout of Ben Askren at UFC 239 which made just about every knockout highlight reel that year.
But he went on a slide from there against the best that the UFC’s welterweight division has to offer.
Masvidal lost back-to-back fights to then champ Kamaru Usman, the last of which came via a blistering knockout at UFC 251, and also lost to Colby Convington — another big Trump fan — and then to Burns Saturday.
It wasn’t just Masvidal’s awesome “Let’s Go Brandon” chant that got the crowd going. It also kicked into overdrive when Trump entered the arena alongside former fighter Mike Tyson and current Bud Light enemy and singer Kid Rock, cheering wildly for him. Check that out here:
BREAKING: UFC crowd in Miami goes wild as Trump enters arena with Kid Rock and Mike Tyson pic.twitter.com/Msf4TGoE1d
— Jack Poso
(@JackPosobiec) April 9, 2023
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video