Donald Trump Cost US Taxpayers Staggering Amount When Watching Paddy Pimblett Fight
The shocking amount of money that US taxpayers have to pay for Donald Trump to attend UFC fights have been revealed.
After a long six-week break, the UFC will finally return on Saturday night as former lightweight title contender Justin Gaethje will face the massively popular Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight title at UFC 324.
With the event set to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, some fans have questioned if US President Donald Trump may decide to turn up and watch the fights.
Trump, who is close friends with UFC boss Dana White, is a long-time fan of MMA and has attended several big UFC events in recent years.
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But every time he does show up to watch a UFC card, it costs the average American a serious amount of money.
The last UFC event that Trump decided to attend was UFC 314 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, headlined by a featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes.
In the co-main event Pimblett, who of course is headlong UFC 324 on Saturday, picked up a knockout win over vocal Trump supporter Michael Chandler.
Although Trump undoubtedly had a good time at the event, it required a host of Secret Service staff to attend the event in order to ensure the US President was safe.
According to a report from Front Office Sports, the agency expensed $45,310 (£33,206) for Trump's trip to Miami, with Trump the only listed “protectee” attending the event, despite the fact he was accompanied by Elon Musk.
The majority of this money, - a total of $31,117 - was spent on four hotels for the evening, while two smaller payments of $675 and $350 was spent on a scissor lift and “golf cars,” respectively.
It's also added that there are inconsistencies in the records where a single payment is linked to two different vendors, with the rest of the money spent on tents and generators.
And Trump watching the UFC in Miami wasn't his only sporting trip in early 2025, as the report reveals that the Secret Service also racked up a breathtaking $561,842.63 (£411,757) in expenses for a trip to the Daytona 500.
Meanwhile his trip to the Super Bowl in February and the NCAA Division I men’s wrestling championship in Philadelphia in March cost the Secret Service more than $120,000 (£88,896) and $65,252.31 (£47,821) respectively.
Topics: Donald Trump, UFC, MMA, Dana White, Paddy Pimblett
Ben McCrum