O’Malley tells Trump he knocked out a Canadian

O’Malley tells – American MMA fighter Sean O’Malley says he told President Donald Trump after knocking out Canada’s Aiemann Zahabi at a UFC event on the White House South Lawn, in a moment shadowed by Trump’s repeated talk of turning Canada into a U.S. state.

Sean O’Malley says the message he delivered to President Donald Trump after his White House knockout was simple, playful, and unmistakably political.

In what he described as a hard-to-recall moment. the American bantamweight said he told Trump: “Happy birthday. I knocked out a Canadian for you.” O’Malley later added. “At least. ‘I think that’s what I said. ’” explaining that people kept asking what he told the president and that he was trying to remember the exact wording.

The setting for that exchange was the UFC event held on the White House South Lawn on Sunday. with O’Malley facing Canada’s Aiemann Zahabi. O’Malley snapped Zahabi’s seven-fight winning streak. turning the fight into the kind of headline moment presidents rarely get—an athletic victory delivered in the same space where politics and pageantry share the spotlight.

For O’Malley, the stakes weren’t only athletic. He said the atmosphere at the White House “definitely felt a little bit different” from previous UFC bouts. though he insisted it didn’t ruin his focus. “Not overwhelming, not to where I was affected in a negative way,” he said. “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.”.

Those “extra things” mattered because Trump has repeatedly talked up the idea of somehow turning Canada into a U.S. state. Against that backdrop, O’Malley’s boast—framed directly as something he did “for” Trump—lands with more weight than a typical sports celebration.

Even with the knockout front and center, O’Malley’s comments about his opponent weren’t dismissive. He praised Zahabi. saying. “Zahabi is tough. ” and adding that Zahabi “kind of fights weird and it makes it look sloppy. ” which can create the impression that he isn’t great. “But Aiemann Zahabi’s good. He really is. You can’t take that away from him.”.

The fight also carried symbolic timing: the UFC event formed part of America’s 250th birthday celebrations and coincided with Trump’s 80th birthday. O’Malley’s victory—over the only Canadian on the card—became part of that rare overlap of national celebration. a presidential milestone. and a moment that looked. in his telling. like a joke aimed straight at the president’s political storyline.

Sean O’Malley Donald Trump Aiemann Zahabi UFC White House South Lawn Canada statehood America’s 250th birthday Trump 80th birthday