Results
Main Card (8 p.m. ET) (Paramount+)
- Justin Gaethje def. Ilia Topuria via TKO, Corner Stoppage (RD 4, 5:00) (UFC Lightweight Championship)
- Ciryl Gane def. Alex Pereira via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 1:27) (Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship)
- Sean O’Malley def. Aiemann Zahabi via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:02)
- Josh Hokit def. Derrick Lewis via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:09)
- Mauricio Ruffy def. Michael Chandler via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:29)
- Bo Nickal def. Kyle Daukaus via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:34)
- Diego Lopes def. Steve Garcia via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 2:42)
Third time was the charm for Justin Gaethje.
37-year-old Gaethje, who has spent more than half a decade chasing undisputed champ status in the lightweight division, finally achieved the accomplishment on Sunday night.
Gaethje pulled off a massive upset in the main event of UFC Freedom 250, handing Georgian-Spaniard Ilia Topuria his first pro loss with a fourth-round stoppage.
The win headlined UFC’s first-ever event on the White House South Lawn in Washington, D.C., an event which underscored the cagefighting brand’s closer-than-ever ties to U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration.
For the first 10 minutes of action, it seemed as though Topuria was en route to yet another successful performance on the feet.
“I knew I was going to have to get through that first round,” Gaethje reflected afterward. “His skills are unmatched when he’s fresh.”
The returning lightweight champ proved to have the sharper fists through two rounds. He had the edge in the first frame with crisp punches to the head, then pulled away with the lead even further in the second round, once he started to aggressively target the body of Gaethje as well.
Momentum shifted in the third round, when cardio seemingly started to become a major issue for Topuria. The champ’s output slowed, allowing a game, workmanlike Gaethje to take control of the contest. The American was able to drop Topuria with an overhand right, then continue to rock him numerous times as the round progressed with punches.
Heading back to his corner before championship rounds, Topuria was bruised and defeated. He risked not making it to the fourth, as a doctor at ringside visibly contemplated not letting him continue to fight due to damage around the eyes.
Topuria ended up making it into the fourth, but his luck didn’t change at all. Gaethje continued to control the fight, out-landing Topuria and continuing to pull ahead.
After 20 minutes, Topuria’s corner made the decision that he couldn’t take any further punishment. Opting out of the fight, they ended Topuria’s 17-bout undefeated run as a pro and put a halt to his run at the top of the lightweight class.
Topuria entered this weekend as a large favorite. While he had spent the past year out of action, his last performances saw him dispose of greats like Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Charles Oliveira with ease.
Gaethje, a fan favorite due to his gritty, brawling style, was trying for the third time in his career to earn the lightweight division’s top belt. He had come up short against Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2020, and later also fell to Charles Oliveira two years later. At 37 years old, Gaethje secured what was likely his last chance at an undisputed championship earlier this year, beating Paddy Pimblett to win an interim belt in the division.
Now, after years fighting the best in one of the UFC’s toughest weight classes, Gaethje can finally call himself the best.
The show’s presentation on Sunday focused on honoring America’s history, from the beginning 250 years ago to the current time. But, the amount of focus the broadcast often devoted to sitting President Donald Trump brought into question whether the event was meant to celebrate the country on Flag Day, or the President on his birthday.
Up and down the show were sponsors that were there to appeal to Trump and his circle.
There was representation from some companies that were once in the doghouse with Trump but have spent their way back into his good graces, like Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, or Bud Light. Budding industries that have been without much oversight amid Trump’s rise, like prediction market service Polymarket were seen as well.
A healthy amount of companies that are directly tied to the Trump family were present, too. Truth Social, Trump’s preferred social media platform nowadays, collectable minted “Trump Coins,” a fighter bonus sponsored by Trump Family-owned World Liberty Financial, and the recently re-named Department of War were given big spotlights during the night.
The show opened with Trump walking alongside UFC CEO Dana White, spending minutes marching through the historic White House before arriving cageside. And the show came to a close with Trump standing on UFC’s used, bloodied canvas, watching fireworks going off elsewhere in Washington. Despite not throwing a punch or even uttering a word into a microphone, the President was one of the main characters of the presentation.
Ciryl Gane captures interim title, lining him up for Aspinall rematch
Ciryl Gane prevented history from being made on Sunday night.
France’s Gane stopped Alex Pereira from becoming the first-ever UFC fighter to win a title in three different weight classes, scoring a second round stoppage to capture an interim heavyweight title.
After a close opening round between the heavyweights, Gane suddenly took control of the fight in the second frame after scoring a hard lead right jab knockdown. A rocked Pereira ate a long series of hammerfist punches and elbows on the ground.
While Pereira worked back up to his feet, he remained wobbled and seemingly out of the fight. It was only after the woozy Pereira consumed a four-punch combo on the feet from Gane that referee Herb Dean stepped in and put a stop to the fight.
Gane’s victory puts him on track for a rematch with Tom Aspinall, UFC’s current main heavyweight champ.
Gane’s last fight against Aspinall last year controversially ended in a no contest, as an accidental eye poke from the French talent put a halt to the fight in the first round. Aspinall has been out of action since that October result, still healing from his eye issue.
Now with an interim title, Gane pitched a unification bout against Aspinall for this September in Paris, France.
Pereira, the ex-middleweight champ and two-time light heavyweight titleholder, was coming up to heavyweight after avenging his sole 205-pound defeat last year, beating Magomed Ankalaev in just 80 seconds.
When asked about what’s next, Pereira said he hasn’t determined whether his future is at heavyweight.
“I don’t know,” Pereira said through an interpreter. “We’re gonna sit down and look at it.”
O’Malley looks toward title opportunity following latest win
Sean O’Malley is eyeing another bantamweight title shot after his latest win.
O’Malley finished Canadian contender Aiemann Zahabi in two rounds on Sunday night, overwhelming him with his crisp boxing. While Zahabi was able to charge forward and score leg kicks throughout the bout, he spent most of the fight backing up, trying to defend against O’Malley’s boxing.
A clean straight left from O’Malley got through in the second round, briefly seating Zahabi on the canvas. The Tristar Gym talent was quick to get back up to his feet, but was dropped again moments later by an overhand right, causing an end to the bout.
Former UFC Bantamweight Champion O’Malley now has back-to-back wins. He notably took down Song Yadong in January at UFC 324, getting him back into the win column after dropping his title to Merab Dvalishvili last year.
With two wins in a row against ranked talent, O’Malley believes his next match should be against current 135-pound champ Petr Yan, whom he has previously faced and beaten before.
“Petr Yan, it should’ve been him here tonight … That’s what I want next,” O’Malley said. “Whether they do Merab and Petr, I want Petr next.”
Zahabi had quietly attained a streak of seven straight wins since 2021, beating names like Jose Aldo, Marlon Vera and Pedro Munhoz along the way. Nonetheless, he entered this weekend as a significant underdog.
Rising Josh Hokit diffuses former title challenger
Rising heavyweight contender Josh Hokit continued his rise up the division on Sunday night, beating the brakes off uninspiring former title challenger Derrick Lewis.
A long, one-sided pummelling from Hokit on the feet through two rounds was mercifully put to an end eventually, closing out a bout that saw little resistance from highly-experienced heavyweight vet Lewis.
The victory continued what has been a quick and meteoric rise for Hokit. The American heavyweight has obtained four wins in the UFC despite only signing onto the roster in August 2025.
Hokit was brought onto the White House card last April, shortly after a Fight of the Year contender win over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327. He’s currently ranked fifth in the class, the making him the highest-ranked UFC rookie in the division.
The 28-year-old has also gained attention for his outspoken, at-times offensive characters, putting together personas during media days and interviews. This boundary-pushing style, which has given Hokit a fair amount of criticism, was on display on Sunday night, as he used part of his post-fight speech on the White House South Lawn to declare that former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama is “a man.”
Lewis, once a headliner of a Madison Square Garden pay-per-view card, has now suffered back-to-back finish losses this year. His previous defeat was a second-round stoppage against Waldo Cortes-Acosta in January.
Mauricio Ruffy runs through Michael Chandler
Mauricio Ruffy looked every part of the heavy favorite description that sportsbooks gave him this week, demolishing former Bellator champ Michael Chandler within a round on Sunday night.
A relentless string of shots from Ruffy, including right hands, as well as a pair of spinning back kicks to the head, consistently wobbled Chandler. It was one of his wheel kicks which finally dropped Chandler, allowing him to close the show with ground and pound moments later.
Ruffy, a rising lightweight who trains out of the prominent Brazilian gym Fighting Nerds, has now picked up a pair of notable wins this year. He previously got past Rafael Fiziev earlier in January, taking down the long-time lightweight contender with strikes in the second round.
With two big wins back-to-back, Ruffy feels like he should be in the title discussion.
“I do believe that I am next up for the title shot,” Ruffy said, through an interpreter, in a post-fight interview.
Ruffy successfully proposed to his wife after the win.
Chandler, once a dominant force in Bellator, has struggled since transitioning to the UFC roster in 2021. Immediately paired with some of the top names at lightweight, Chandler has lost six of his eight bouts in the UFC.
Boxing star Tyson Fury appears, broadcast teases future super-fight
Former heavyweight boxing world champ Tyson Fury made a surprise cameo during Sunday’s show, coming to cageside donning a hat that said “Donald Trump for Prime Minister” on it.
After stating his excitement to be at the event on Trump’s birthday, Fury was encouraged by the broadcast to share news about a potential collaboration with Dana White. While Fury seemed suspiciously hesitant to reveal any details, presenter Jon Anik mentioned that White’s Zuffa Boxing promotion is in the process of possibly putting together a super-fight between him and fellow Briton heavyweight Anthony Joshua.
Anik threw in the detail that Zuffa Boxing is hoping to give Fury a tune-up fight before then, although details were sparse. Fury said that he was going to wait for White himself to announce the fight before discussing further.
Bo Nickal disposes of Kyle Daukaus early
Rising middleweight prospect Bo Nickal picked up a quick win on Sunday night, taking down American vet Kyle Daukaus with a first-round stoppage.
A quick two-punch combo flung out by Nickal in the closing moments of the opening round dropped Daukaus, who immediately shelled up once he hit the canvas. Nickal pounced on him with ground and pound shots, continuing until referee Jason Herzog stepped in to end the bout.
Apart from an upset finish loss last year against former ONE champ Reinier de Ridder, Nickal has been smoothly on the rise at 185 pounds since entering the UFC roster in 2023. The 30-year-old American Top Team-based talent has now picked up six wins in the promotion, with just one going the distance.
Daukaus entered this weekend as a significant underdog. The 33-year-old re-entered the UFC roster last year after gaining momentum on the U.S. regionals. He entered this weekend following back-to-back first-round finishes against UFC middleweights, albeit far less notable names.
Diego Lopes opens card with finish win
Two-time featherweight title challenger Diego Lopes got the action started with a second-round stoppage win, taking out Jackson Wink Gym’s Steve Garcia with a slick series of punches.
A left hook from Lopes wobbled Garcia halfway through the second round. Lopes was quick to follow up with punches which dropped the American, the first and only knockdown of the bout. Moments later, ground and pound shots from Lopes put an end to the fight.
Lopes, whose past three fights were five-round assignments, had a slow start to the fight. Garcia had the edge in the first round, advancing on the Mexican-Brazilian with straight shots which connected.
“I was taking it easy in the first round,” Lopes admitted after his win.
The win gave some momentum back to Lopes, who was appearing for the first time since suffering a five-round decision loss to UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski earlier this year. He remains one of the top 145-pound talents in the world, ranked second in promotion’s division.
Garcia entered this weekend with a lengthy win streak, attaining seven straight wins since 2022. The streak included six finishes, three of which emerged in the first round.
UFC’s Sean Strickland escorted out of Fan Fest
Among the thousands of those in attendance tonight are celebrities, politicians, and veterans. Not on the invite list was UFC Middleweight Champion Sean Strickland, who said his outspoken views on Trump caused him to not be cleared to appear at the show.
This didn’t stop Strickland from trying to show up at the event anyway, it seems. Footage surfacing on social media from Sunday shows that Strickland was escorted away from the event’s Fan Fest, hours prior to the event officially starting.
Strickland got into the fest and jumped into a WWE ring set up in the area, footage shows, but was escorted out of the venue shortly thereafter.
“Sorry you guys.. We almost made it!!!,” said Strickland on Instagram, posting a photo of him barefoot, getting escorted away by a horde of security. “I promise one day we will set up a circle and box. Thanks for your support.”
Oh, and an update on the fights? The first bout of the night, Steve Garcia versus Diego Lopes, is getting started right now.
Trump & White appear at cageside
After a brief rain delay, the festivities kicked off on the South Lawn.
The broadcast opened with UFC CEO Dana White and U.S. President Donald Trump exiting the Oval Office, walking side-by-side until they finally arrived on the South Lawn. The Zac Brown Band, who performed as part of a fan festival earlier in the weekend, entered the cage to perform the Star Spangled Banner.
We then went back to a shot of Trump and White, who made it to cageside. Trump joined the seating area with the rest of his family, as well as TKO’s Ari Emanuel, who shook hands with the President.
UFC Freedom 250 starts with a rain delay
As expected by many, this evening’s UFC action didn’t get started on time.
Just moments after Sunday’s broadcast went live, UFC presenters officially declared Freedom 250 under a rain delay. Broadcaster Heidi Androl specifically stated that the promotion is monitoring a storm currently going through West Virginia, which is expected to move to the D.C. area from now until 9 p.m. ET.
High winds and lightning in the area could cause a shelter-in-place order, Androl announced. As previously reported by The Weather Channel, such shelter rules would be honored for 30 minutes after the final lightning strike in the area.
The broadcast hasn’t mentioned a new start time for the event, although it seems highly unlikely that any MMA action will take place for the next hour or so. We’ll update this page once we hear more.
Preview: UFC heads to Washington for head-turning, historic night of fights
We’re just moments away from the beginning of UFC Freedom 250, arguably one of the sport’s most polarizing, yet newsworthy events to date.
During a week where America plays host to massive sporting spectacles like the NBA Finals, NHL Playoffs, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, it’s MMA that has found an endorsement from U.S. President Donald Trump unlike any other. In a never-seen-before event, UFC will present an seven-fight card on the White House South Lawn in Washington, D.C. this evening, a multi-million dollar venture that has been hyped by both government and combat sports promoters for the past year.
Tonight’s show, a rare outdoor UFC event, promises high-level fights mixed in with storytelling that plans to celebrate America’s 250 years of history. Despite the unique, larger-than-life presentation of the event, it hasn’t been without its detractors.
The Politics
While those behind UFC Freedom 250 have claimed that the event is a nonpartisan appreciation of America, the political nature of hosting an event in collaboration with the current administration has caused the company to draw significant criticism.
Critics of the event see it as a problematic marriage between President Trump’s business partnerships and his career as a politician, tarnishing a U.S. institution’s legacy in the process.
UFC has long been associated with Trump, a history which some like to say started decades ago when the then-embattled MMA organization hosted events at his Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City.
Fast forward two-and-a-half decades, UFC gave him a major spotlight during his 2024 U.S. Presidential re-election campaign, coordinating admiring cameos of him at some of their top events of the year. CEO Dana White, who has endorsed Trump at the past three Republican National Conventions, has been credited by the President as providing significant help for younger voter outreach, both through his UFC efforts and by connecting Trump to influential podcasters.
Tonight’s show could be seen as Trump’s way of giving back to a brand and entrepreneur whom he has directly credited with helping his political career. As the sporting world is full of big moments this month, only one can say they got to perform in the President’s backyard, a bragging right which executives within TKO believe will be remembered positively. “This is the greatest earned marketing tool of all time,” TKO’s Mark Shapiro told Time Magazine earlier this year, when asked about the event.
Beyond the political relationship between Trump and UFC is a much clearer financial tie between the event and the President, one which has made many throw out the heavy allegation of “corruption.” It was revealed recently that Trump purchased stock in TKO, showing that he has a direct financial interest in the event, and the company that’s staging the event, to succeed.
Last-minute lawsuits have attempted to halt this evening’s event, although the show being scheduled to go forward proves that such efforts have clearly not been successful.
A Reuters/Ipsos survey from earlier this month found that just 16 percent of Americans considered this evening’s UFC event “appropriate” for Trump to hold. Of the Republicans surveyed in the group, only 31 percent approved of it.
The Fights
It’s rare that the political backdrop of an MMA event overshadows the action going on inside the ring, especially when it’s a card with two world title matchups.
Lost in the mainstream coverage of Sunday’s show will be the fact that it includes some of the promotion’s top names in action, including second-ranked pound-for-pound male MMA fighter Ilia Topuria in the main event.
When looking strictly at the fights, this weekend’s show features a return for one of the sport’s biggest stars, as well as a potentially history-making showdown in the co-main event.
Undefeated Georgian-Spaniard Ilia Topuria will return for the first time in nearly a year, putting his lightweight title on the line against future Hall of Famer Justin Gaethje. Topuria has taken down many of MMA’s greats with ease, stopping Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski in recent years with his sharp strikes. He’ll try to continue that success against the tough Gaethje, who enters as a significant underdog.
The co-main event sees Alex Pereira attempt to do the unprecedented, chasing a heavyweight title after previously capturing gold in the middleweight and light heavyweight classes. In an interim title showdown, the Brazilian kickboxer is scheduled to meet long-time contender Ciryl Gane, who oddsmakers have respected with a pick’em line.
At just seven fights in total, this evening’s show is much shorter than the average UFC card. Earlier bouts include other big names like former champ Sean O’Malley, ex-featherweight title challenger Diego Lopes, veteran talent Michael Chandler, surging middleweight Bo Nickal, and more.
The Weather
A UFC Freedom 250 storyline that has creeped into the headlines over the past few days has been the weather in the nation’s capital, and how that could be a factor during the evening’s card.
The National Weather Service said on Sunday evening that showers and thunderstorms are expected in the area before midnight. A report from The Weather Channel noted that lightning strikes within eight miles of the show “will trigger an automatic 30-minute freeze on the entire event,” showing that harsh weather could significantly delay festivities. They also estimated that severe humidity, “swarms of mosquitoes and gnats,” and wind gusts up to 34 miles per hour could be significant factors for the event.
While a huge “claw” structure has been built over the UFC cage, preventing rainfall from being an issue, it nonetheless seems as though the weather could significantly impact this evening’s processions.
The broadcast for Freedom 250 is expected to begin at its previously announced 8 p.m. ET start time, although it’s expected that the first fight won’t begin until around 9 p.m.
