Trump Likely to Attend New York MMA Fight in Impeachment Break

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump plans to take a break from the impeachment fight in Washington to watch another brawl in New York City.

The president is tentatively set to attend a mixed martial arts bout on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, according to people familiar with the matter. The event, UFC 244, will be headlined by a five-round contest between welterweights Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz and will air live on pay-per-view.

Trump has deep ties to mixed martial arts, dating back to his time as a real-estate developer.

He hosted two major events in 2001 at what was then the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 2016, UFC President Dana White endorsed Trump’s presidential campaign and spoke in support of him at the Republican National Convention.

Roughly a decade ago, Trump lent his name and backing to a potential UFC competitor -- Affliction Entertainment -- which ultimately failed to become a major fight-promotion outfit, according to an account by the sports news site Bleacher Report.

The New York trip may provide Trump a respite from the impeachment inquiry underway in the U.S. House. The president is expected to stay at Trump Tower, which, combined with this weekend’s New York City Marathon, could cause major traffic congestion in Manhattan.

Trump has said in the past he prefers to keep his visits to his hometown to a minimum because of the high cost and the disruption they cause.

“I hate to see the New Yorkers with streets closed,” he told Fox News in April 2017.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jordan Fabian in Washington at jfabian6@bloomberg.net;Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum

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