Donald Trump is not going to attend UFC 322 this Saturday at Madison Sq. Backyard in New York, in accordance with UFC President Dana White, marking the previous president’s first absence from a New York UFC occasion since his constant presence at main fights within the metropolis over the previous a number of years.
Donald Trump Skips UFC 322 in New York Amid Epstein Controversy
The revelation comes as Trump faces renewed scrutiny following the House Oversight Committee‘s launch of personal emails from the late convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein’s property. These emails, launched on November 11, point out Trump by title in communications with affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell and creator Michael Wolff.
Dana White confirmed Trump’s non-attendance throughout separate media appearances, with the information spreading throughout social media and sports activities media retailers overlaying the extremely anticipated welterweight championship bout between Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev. The event, scheduled for November 15 at Madison Sq. Backyard, represents one of many UFC’s marquee choices for the 12 months, that includes a number of title fights together with a girls’s flyweight championship matchup between Valentina Shevchenko and Zhang Weili.
Trump has maintained a visible presence at main UFC occasions for years, significantly in New York. His most up-to-date look at Madison Sq. Backyard got here in November 2024 when he attended UFC 309 simply days after his election victory, arriving alongside Elon Musk, Home Speaker Mike Johnson, and different high-profile figures. That occasion drew intensive media consideration as Trump spent a number of hours ringside, remaining till previous 1:30 a.m. to observe a number of fights. Earlier than that, Trump attended UFC 295 on the identical venue in November 2023 with an entourage together with Tucker Carlson, Child Rock, and Dana White.
The timing of his absence from UFC 322 coincides with the escalating scrutiny surrounding newly released Epstein correspondence. Home Democrats launched emails exhibiting Epstein telling Maxwell in April 2011 that Trump “spent hours” at his house with a girl recognized as an alleged sufferer of Epstein’s intercourse trafficking operation. In one other message from 2019, Epstein wrote that Trump “knew in regards to the women,” seemingly referring to Trump’s declare that he expelled Epstein from Mar-a-Lago for recruiting younger girls who labored there.
Trump and Epstein had a social relationship relationship again to the Nineteen Nineties and 2000s, although Trump has persistently maintained they’d a falling out round 2004. In a 2002 New York Journal interview, Trump described Epstein as a “terrific man,” however later distanced himself from the financier following Epstein’s 2019 arrest on intercourse trafficking prices. Epstein died in custody in August 2019, with authorities ruling his loss of life a suicide, although conspiracy theories have endured.
Latest on the Epstein Case
The House Democrats initially released three emails on November 11 that specifically talked about Trump, main the Republican-controlled Home Oversight Committee to counter-release 20,000 extra pages the next day. Among the many new paperwork, Epstein’s emails reveal startling claims about Trump, together with one the place Epstein informed creator Michael Wolff that Trump knew in regards to the women, seemingly referring to allegations that Epstein focused younger girls who labored at Mar-a-Lago. In one other e-mail to affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein wrote that Trump “spent hours” at his house with somebody allegedly related to his intercourse trafficking operation.
In a single change with Summers in 2017, Epstein wrote: “Recall i’ve informed you,, — i’ve met some very unhealthy individuals ,, none as unhealthy as trump. not one respectable cell in his physique.. so yes- harmful”. Summers replied with comparatively subdued responses to Epstein’s political commentary. In one other thread with White Home counsel Kathryn Ruemmler in 2018, Epstein wrote: “you see , i understand how soiled donald is”.
UFC 322
The upcoming UFC 322 card features a stacked lineup beyond the headline title fights. The event includes welterweight bouts between Sean Brady against Michael Morales and Leon Edwards versus Carlos Prates, together with a light-weight showdown between Beneil Dariush and Benoît Saint Denis. The preliminary card consists of center weight matchups and a number of girls’s flyweight bouts.
Looking ahead, Trump has plans to host a UFC occasion on the White House in June 2026, scheduled to coincide with each the 250th anniversary of American independence and his eightieth birthday. Dana White and the UFC have been actively planning the spectacle, together with renderings introduced to Trump on the White Home, with experiences suggesting world leaders will attend a pre-fight dinner earlier than the matches.
For now, UFC 322 will proceed with out Trump in attendance, an absence that stands out given his latest sample of attending main New York UFC occasions as a part of his political technique to keep up reference to the game’s fanbase.
