Donald Trump Set To Attend UFC 302 Days After Guilty Verdict

On Thursday, May 30, 2024, history was made as Donald Trumpbecame the first President to be convicted of a crime.

The former President of the United States was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a 2016 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.

Days after Donald Trump was found guilty in the hush-money trial, the former President is set to attend UFC 302 on Saturday, June 1, 2024.

The jury, consisting of seven men and six women from New York, reached a verdict after only two days of deliberation. They found former President Donald Trump guilty on all 34 counts.

"We don’t have the same country anymore. We have a divided mess," Trump told the press moments after the guilty verdict was read. "We’re a nation in decline, serious decline, millions and millions of people pouring into our country right now from prisons and from mental institutions, terrorists, and they’re taking over our country."

This verdict is a historical moment, as Trump is now the first President in history to be convicted of a crime.

Two days after Donald Trump was found guilty and became a convicted criminal, the former President is set to attend UFC 302, one of the year's most anticipated events.

UFC 302's card will feature 12 matches and it will be headlined by lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who is fighting for the title against fourth-ranked Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier.

Trump, who has been friends with UFC President Dana White for 20 years, is expected to attend -- more than likely cage side, meaning he will get broadcast time. “I’ve been friends with this guy for 20 years, and when he shows up to the fights… The guy is a fight fan. He’s been a fight fan,” White said of Trump in February.

If he shows up, it will be his first public appearance since he spoke at a press conference at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan on Friday.

The main card of UFC 302 begins at 10 p.m. ET and will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Moments after the guilty verdict was read, former President Donald Trump addressed the media, claiming, "Our whole country is being rigged right now."

"This was done by the Biden administration in order to wound, to hurt an opponent. A political opponent," he added. "And I think it's just a disgrace, and we'll keep fighting, we'll fight till the end, and we'll win because our country has gone to hell. We don't have the same country anymore, we have a divided mess."

"We have a country that's in big trouble, but this was a rigged decision right from day one, with a conflicted judge who should have never been allowed to try this case. Never!" he added.

During his press conference on Friday, 77-year-old Donald Trump vowed to appeal his conviction based “on many things” he considered unfair.

“We’re going to be appealing this scam,” Trump said before calling New York Justice Juan Merchan a “tyrant.”

Trump's sentencing has been scheduled for July 11, 2024.

“When there is a stay pending appeal, generally, the process is expedited more quickly than it would be if the defendant was at liberty and there was no stay. But even so, this is going to go beyond the election,” retired New York Supreme Court Judge Michael Obus said at the press conference.

After his guilty verdict, Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., broke his silence.

"Obviously [it's] just a sad day for America," Trump Jr. said moments after the news broke. "Crazy what's going on in this country. Obviously [no one was] probably expecting anything different with this jury, with this biased judge, whose daughter is profiteering from this stuff."

"The Democrats have succeeded in their years-long quest to turn our country into an absolute cr-p hole," he later added. "They've done that. They've been trying for a long time. There's literally no other way about it at this point."