American MMA fighter Sean O'Malley has revealed what he told President Donald Trump after knocking out Canada's Aiemann Zahabi at the UFC event held on the White House South Lawn on Sunday.
"I said, 'Happy birthday, I knocked out a Canadian for you,'" the bantamweight revealed on the latest episode of Ariel Helwani's combat sports podcast, "The Ariel Helwani Show."
At least, "I think that's what I said," he added. "People keep asking me what I said, and I'm trying to recall."
Trump has repeatedly talked up the idea of somehow turning Canada into a U.S. state.
O'Malley snapped Zahabi's seven-fight winning streak at the event, which formed part of America's 250th birthday celebrations and coincided with Trump's 80th birthday.
O'Malley admitted the atmosphere at the White House "definitely felt a little bit different" from his previous UFC bouts.
"Not overwhelming, not to where I was affected in a negative way," he explained. "But it definitely felt different because it was at the White House, I was fighting the only Canadian on the card, Trump's birthday, America's birthday. All these extra things."
Despite the knockout victory, O'Malley also praised his opponent.
"Zahabi is tough," he said. "He kind of fights weird and it makes it look sloppy. It makes him look like he's not great. But Aiemann Zahabi's good. He really is. You can't take that away from him."
