UFC fighters tell Michigan Arabs to vote for Trump as a peacemaker: Were definitely in the championship rounds

WARREN, Mich.— UFC fighters Justin Gaethje, Beneil Dariush and Henry Cejudo stepped into the political ring last week, urging a crowd of Arab-American voters in swing-state Michigan to cast their ballots for GOP heavyweight Donald Trump.

Their selling point to clinch support for Trump? He’ll fight for peace in the Middle East.The newly minted Conservative Middle Eastern political-action committee, which seeks to register such voters Republican, sponsored the event in coordination with former Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, who’s been heavily involved in Trump world’s efforts to win over Michigan’s sizable Arab-American population.The UFC trio became involved with campaign outreach via their manager, Ali Abdelaziz, who is a close friend of both Trump and Grenell.

The venue was a dazzling Arab banquet hall in the greater Detroit area, the epicenter of the fight for Arab-American and Muslim votes this election cycle.One by one, the star fighters took the stage to make their case for the former president to about 50 attendees.

“I do get punched in the head for a living, so I have written some words,” joked Gaethje, a lightweight fighter famous for his bloody five-round battles.“I think we’re definitely in the championship rounds, three weeks to go of this fight for America,” he said before urging attendees to vote for Trump.Next up, Olympic gold medalist and former UFC champion Cejudo told the mostly Arab-American crowd that as the son of Mexican immigrants, he related to their experiences as newer and first-generation Americans.

Wearing a “Trump For Peace” T-shirt, Cejudo told the crowd: “I stand here as a Latino-American — or better yet an American — so hopefully I can make a change with people that come from my background, people that have come from the same circumstances.”The most passionate speaker was Dariush, a lightweight fighter and Assyrian Christian who was born in Iran.He forged a strong connection with the...