UFC superstar Jorge Masvidal shares why he's not afraid to talk politics in the octagon
"Thank God I'm in the greatest country in the world!"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Retired UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal ended his career with a political bang on April 8 by publicly praising Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis after his final welterweight match at fight night in Miami.
Masvidal joined Brian Kilmeade on Saturday's "One Nation" sharing why he's grateful to live in the United States in his first interview with Fox News since his show of political support.
Before the 20-year star hung up his gloves after UFC 287 in his hometown, Masvidal dubbed Donald Trump the "greatest president in the history of the world."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Masvidal recalled when he saw former President Trump outside the octagon, he "had to say that to the world."
"First, let me say thank God for everything that I have, thank God that I even give this interview," Masvidal said. "Thank God that I'm in the greatest country in the world, the United States, in the best state in the country, Florida. And I'm biased, the best city in the world, Miami."
Masvidal touted Florida politics and Governor Ron DeSantis' leadership during the coronavirus pandemic.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Thank God the hate is not that bad in Florida because we have an amazing governor DeSantis that has fought against this like a fighter would," he said. "You know, and it's amazing that we have all this freedom and liberty in Florida, in Miami, and we could go out there and make money and be involved in businesses, you know, So I just thank God."
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Masvidal credited Florida's handling of the coronavirus response and return to normalcy when the sport held UFC 261 in Jacksonville in 2021.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It's so special because I felt like it set the rest of the world on track to get back to regular. You know, we're still like 30% in attendance at a live show. Things like that. And it was just nuts, you know, and we're way past that already. And Corona was a major setback, I think, in a lot of people's minds as well, like the way that we were living. We just had a breakdown and that was a way to break it. So I always thank Governor DeSantis for that moment."
Gov. Ron DeSantis (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
Coming from a family of immigrants, Masvidal said he "learned many lessons" by escaping communism and coming to America.
"My dad, his best friend and his best friend's uncle, they got two tire tractors, turned them into a raft and hit the seas. Seven days later, they got to the Bahamas. From there, he got extradited to the USA and began his journey."
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He added, "as I got older, you know, like close to my teens, like 11, 12 years old, I really understood why my dad did this. And it was escape the tyranny that that is communism over there in Cuba, in places like Venezuela, where we see this happening in Brazil. So this was like just part of like a daily topic, a daily conversation that we talk about always, you know, whether I engage it or not. This was spoken out on the dinner tables around the family."