Former United States president Donald Trump was among the first people on Saturday night to congratulate South Africa's Dricus du Plessis following his whirlwind second-round win over Australia’s Robert Whittaker in their scheduled five-rounder at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Video footage of the 77-year-old Trump shaking Du Plessis' hand after the fight went viral. Before Du Plessis' UFC bout, Trump, usually a crowd favourite at mixed martial arts bouts, was given a rousing welcome as he entered the arena. He was a special guest of UFC president Dana White.

Trump was seated ringside on the apron next to White, who also congratulated Du Plessis. Earlier this year, Trump sat alongside the notorious Mike Tyson, ye of ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ fame, at a UFC bout.

After his shocking TKO victory over Robert Whittaker, Dricus Du Plessis got to meet former President Donald Trump #UFC290 pic.twitter.com/CCNJFAMoB3
— InsideFighting (@InsideFighting_) July 9, 2023

Du Plessis, stunned the crowd when he pummelled the New Zealand-born Australian Whittaker in the second round. Whittaker offered no resistance as Du Plessis’ punches rained down on him and the referee stopped the fight at 2:23 minutes into the second round.

With this win, the undefeated Du Plessis, nicknamed 'Stillknocks' moved to 6-0. It was the second successive time that he ended a bout in the second round.

DRICUS DU PLESSIS GOES 6-0 BY TAKING DOWN ROBERT WHITTAKER IN THE SECOND ROUND AT #UFC290 🇿🇦💪👏 pic.twitter.com/tqd7PRgnsI
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) July 9, 2023

As Du Plessis was preparing to leave the octagon to approach Trump, he was confronted by the reigning world middleweight champion 33-year-old Israel Adesanya, the Nigeria-born New Zealander.

Adesanya, who was allowed to enter the ring straight after the result was announced, gave the 29-year-old Du Plessis an earful but the South African remained quiet until officials moved the two away from each other.

Adesanya let rip with a series of expletives in Du Plessis face: "This is my African brother right here, let's go n*gga, what's up b*tch?" Adesanya yelled during their UFC 290 face-off. "Let's go n*gga, here n*gga. Wassup n*gga? Yeah, my African brother!"

@Herman_Gibbs