Key events
It’s finally time for the main event. Which makes sense: it’s 12:22am in DC. It’s a fight to determine the undisputed king of the UFC’s lightweight division between the reigning champion Ilia Topuria and the interim champion Justin Gaethje. Topuria is undefeated and coming off title wins in two weight classes, while Gaethje remains one of the sport’s most beloved action fighters.
A new recruitment-style advertisement from the newly renamed Department of War has just debuted on the broadcast ahead of the main event. Titled “Peace Through Strength”, the spot celebrates military readiness and the “warrior ethos” while encouraging young Americans to join the armed forces. In a broadcast already featuring fighter walkouts, flyovers and presidential pageantry, it feels less like a commercial interruption than a continuation of the evening’s theme.
Ciryl Gane captured the interim heavyweight title with a devastating second-round stoppage of Alex Pereira, overwhelming the former two-division champion in a one-sided performance. After a competitive opening round, Gane found his rhythm early in the second, repeatedly countering Pereira with crisp combinations before finishing the fight at 1:27. The Frenchman appeared a step ahead throughout, dismantling Pereira on the feet and leaving little doubt about the outcome by the time the referee intervened.
The victory firmly establishes Gane as the leading contender for a future showdown with undisputed champion Tom Aspinall, while raising fresh questions about Pereira’s future after one of the most lopsided defeats of his UFC career.
We’re eight minutes past midnight with only one fight to go: the main event between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje.
Pereira and Gane are into the second round of their co-main event. Shortly before their fight, a B-1 bomber roared over the White House from the south, making a low pass above the Claw. The flyover was deafening inside the venue and almost certainly rattled plenty of windows – and sleeping Washingtonians – across downtown DC.
It’s time for the second-to-last fight of the night between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane. Pereira, already a former middleweight and light heavyweight champion, can become the first fighter in UFC history to win titles in three different weight classes. Standing in his way is former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane. The interim belt is on the line because champion Tom Aspinall remains sidelined with an eye injury.
A brief postscript to Josh Hokit’s victory over Derrick Lewis, which was quickly overshadowed by a bizarre post-fight interview. According to the White House press pool, Hokit handed his chain to Donald Trump after the bout and video posted by White House aide Margo Martin showed the president wearing it around his neck.
After thanking Trump for “having the balls to put something like this on”, Hokit ended his remarks by repeating the false conspiracy claim that Michelle Obama is a man. According to the pool reporter, Trump removed the chain shortly afterward.
Sean O’Malley gave the heavily pro-American crowd exactly what it wanted, stopping Canada’s Aiemann Zahabi by TKO at 4:02 of the second round after controlling much of the fight with his trademark striking from range.
The bout quickly took on a nationalistic flavor. President Donald Trump donned a white “USA” hat cageside as chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” and “O-Mal-ley! O-Mal-ley!” echoed from the active-duty military section throughout the opening round. At various points, spectators could be heard shouting “Canada is the 51st state!” and urging O’Malley to “eat” his opponent: “Don’t play with your food, eat!”
Zahabi found some success with leg kicks, but O’Malley repeatedly beat him to the punch at distance and steadily took control before a barrage of strikes forced the referee to intervene late in the second round. The crowd erupted when O’Malley dropped Zahabi, celebrating what appeared to be the first victory by an American fighter over a foreign opponent on the card.
Trump applauded the finish and shook O’Malley’s hand afterward. Behind him, Barron Trump appeared to be taking on unofficial hosting duties, chatting with a steady stream of guests who approached the president between bouts.
Before leaving the cage, O’Malley thanked the tens of thousands of fans watching from the Ellipse and offered a tribute to UFC president Dana White.
“Shout out to everyone at the park. I fucking love you guys,” O’Malley said. “Dana’s a fucking gangster.”
The stars are out tonight. From Zlatan Ibrahimović to Shane Gillis to Tony Hinchcliffe, UFC Freedom 250 has turned the White House lawn into the hottest ticket on the Beltway.
The third-to-last fight of the night is on deck. Former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley returns against the surging Aiemann Zahabi, who enters on a seven-fight UFC winning streak.
Josh Hokit: ‘Michelle Obama is a man’
Hokit’s post-fight interview suggests that he knows his audience. “I’m the man with the plan, the beast that’s ready to feast,” Hokit began before abruptly changing course. “You know what? Fuck the speech.”
From there, the heavyweight delivered a stream-of-consciousness monologue that touched on politics, religion and future opponents in the span of less than a minute.
“Shout out to Trump for having the balls to put something like this on,” Hokit said. “And if I’m going to say anything, there’s only one person more incredible than the Incredible Hulk, and that’s my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
He then turned his attention to former UFC champion Alex Pereira.
“Now listen: Alex Pereira, I want a chama on your mama.”
And just when it seemed the interview had exhausted its supply of non sequiturs, Hokit signed off with one final declaration:
“And lastly: Michelle Obama is a man.”
The comments drew roars from the crowd and served as a reminder that one of the world’s most recognizable symbols of democratic government had been reduced to a venue for culture-war taunts and conspiracy-laced crowd-pleasing.
Hokit has a history of making misogynistic, transphobic and racist comments in interviews. UFC CEO Dana White has even been critical of those comments himself – Hokit’s dismal outburst tonight was hardly a surprise to anyone with even a passing knowledge of combat sports. And yet UFC and the White House signed off on his appearance. Another tawdry incident on a tawdry night.
Josh Hokit remained unbeaten and moved a step closer to title contention with a dominant second-round stoppage of Derrick Lewis. Hokit controlled the fight from the outset, outclassing the veteran heavyweight in both the striking exchanges and grappling sequences before forcing a TKO at 4:09 of the second round. The victory improved Hokit to 10-0 and reinforced his status as one of the division’s rising contenders.
For Lewis, it was an uncomfortable night. The longtime fan (and Trump) favorite struggled to match Hokit’s pace and physicality, absorbing punishment throughout a one-sided contest that left many observers questioning how much longer the former title challenger intends to compete.
Afterward, Hokit climbed from the cage and approached Donald Trump at ringside, presenting Trump with a necklace or medallion before celebrating the biggest win of his career.
The fourth fight of seven is about to start. It’s the opening heavyweight contest featuring knockout artist Derrick Lewis against hot prospect Josh Hokit, who has won his first nine fights on the trot. According to UFC officials, the matchup was added after Trump personally requested Lewis be included on the White House card.
Before he introduces the fighters, UFC ring announcer makes a plug: “UFC Freedom 250 is proudly sponsored by Truth Social, the real voice of President Trump! Download Truth Social today!”
Sheesh.
While a select group of guests are watching the fights from seats on the White House South Lawn, the vast majority of attendees have spent the evening across the street on the Ellipse. There, thousands are gathering in front of giant video screens to follow the action.
The third of seven fights has come and gone. Maurício Ruffy dismantled veteran Michael Chandler with a dominant performance that ended in a brutal TKO at the 4:29 mark of round one. The touted Brazilian largely neutralized Chandler from the outset, repeatedly hurting the former Bellator champion before closing the show with a finish that left little doubt about the gulf between the two men. The result sparked fresh questions about Chandler’s future at age 40, while reinforcing Ruffy’s growing reputation as one of the lightweight division’s most dangerous rising contenders.
The business ties surrounding the White House UFC card continue to grow. In a new development, the promotion announced that some fighters will receive performance bonuses in a cryptocurrency issued by World Liberty Financial, the Trump family-backed company that recently became an official sponsor of the event. Aram Roston and Joseph Gedeon report on the arrangement, which further intertwines the president’s financial interests with the unprecedented fight card unfolding on White House grounds.
Hey, it’s Tyson Fury! The former world heavyweight boxing champion has made an unbilled appearance and for a brief moment it seemed like it was about to break some actual news.
The 37-year-old from Manchester, England, emerged from the White House and made his way to cageside, where a UFC broadcaster teased an announcement involving Fury and Dana White. Given the decade-long saga surrounding a potential fight with Anthony Joshua and White’s much-discussed boxing ambitions, expectations were understandably raised.
Then Fury proceeded to spend several minutes confirming little beyond the fact that he would like to fight Anthony Joshua at some point, which everyone already knew.
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Pressed on the purported announcement, Fury immediately deferred to White. “I think I’m going to let Dana do the talking,” he said. Pressed on a Joshua fight, Fury reiterated that he was excited about the possibility, suggested he could have a tune-up bout in August and acknowledged that White could be involved in some promotional capacity. Beyond that, details were in notably short supply.
In other words, Fury appeared before a national audience to reveal that an announcement may eventually be announced by someone else.
Still, the appearance served as a reminder that few fighters can generate intrigue quite like Fury. Thousands of fans briefly stopped paying attention to the actual fights in the cage to hear him say, in essence, that discussions are ongoing. As publicity stunts go, it was oddly impressive. As announcements go, it was more of a save-the-date for a future announcement that may or may not exist.
Bo Nickal needed less than five minutes to make a statement at UFC Freedom 250, stopping Kyle Daukaus by first-round TKO after 4:34. The decorated wrestler from Penn State barely relied on his grappling pedigree, instead overwhelming Daukaus with strikes before a late flurry prompted the referee to wave off the contest. The victory snapped Daukaus’s two-fight winning streak while extending Nickal’s own run of consecutive wins. Nickal immediately exited the octagon to find Donald Trump at cageside, shaking hands with the president and exchanging a few words.
“It feels amazing,” Nickal says. “First and foremost, I’ve got to thank President Trump for making this happen. Thank you to Dana, the UFC and everybody involved. This is unbelievable.
“It takes a special person to have the balls to do something like this, and I have so much respect for him. I’ve had that for a long time. I’m grateful to be here and grateful to be part of it. I visualized about a hundred different ways to finish that guy, and that was one of them. It worked out, and I’m just grateful.”
Asked about the picture-perfect staraight left that finished the job, Nickal is to the point.
“Hard work pays off,” he says. “I’m a wrestler, but I’ve learned how to do a couple more things. I’m going to keep getting better and keep improving.
“Most importantly, I’m grateful to God for blessing me with this opportunity. I learned a Bible verse in high school, John 10:10: ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’
“I feel like I’m living that abundant life and enjoying every moment.”
Bo Nickal and Kyle Daukaus are in the octagon for second of seven fights tonight, a middleweight contest scheduled for three rounds. Nickal, the three-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion viewed as one of the UFC’s brightest prospects, faces a difficult test against the streaking Daukaus, who has won six straight fights.
One of the UFC’s biggest stars appeared to have his freedom infringed upon earlier Sunday. Middleweight champion Sean Strickland was escorted from the Ellipse viewing area by multiple law enforcement officers and placed into a US Park Police vehicle in an incident that drew attention from nearby spectators. Strickland, who was wearing a black jacket and no shoes, offered no immediate explanation as he was led away and authorities have not publicly commented on the circumstances.
The episode comes after Strickland spent recent weeks publicly claiming he had been excluded from UFC Freedom 250 because of his criticism of Israel. Dana White has repeatedly denied those allegations, telling reporters earlier this month that “nobody is banned” from the White House festivities. Whether Sunday’s encounter with police was related to those claims remains unclear. Of course, any temptation to cast Strickland as a civil-liberties folk hero should be tempered by the fact that he has spent years generating headlines for racist, homophobic and sexist comments.
Diego Lopes delivered the first finish of UFC Freedom 250 with a dramatic second-round knockout of Steve Garcia after appearing to be on the wrong side of much of the fight.
Garcia enjoyed success at range and was repeatedly finding Lopes with clean shots, but the bout turned midway through the second round when the pair engaged in a wild exchange. Lopes abandoned caution, landed a fight-changing blow that stunned Garcia and quickly swarmed for the finish, leaving his opponent splayed on the canvas. The referee called it at the 2:42 mark of round two.
The come-from-behind knockout ignited the crowd in the purpose-built venue and provided an explosive start to the card, with Lopes once again showcasing the aggressive style and fight-ending power that have become his signature.
Diego Lopes are Steve Garcia are in the ring for the first fight of the night. A clash between two of the division’s hottest fighters. Lopes, from Brazil, has challenged twice for the UFC’s featherweight title last year, while the New Mexico native Garcia arrives riding a seven-fight winning streak.
The first of seven fights should be under way shortly. In the meantime here are some scenes from a Sunday night like few others on the White House South Lawn.
Just when it seemed the buildup to UFC Freedom 250 couldn’t get any stranger, the FBI director entered the frame. In a promotional video released ahead of Sunday’s White House card, FBI director Kash Patel touted a partnership that has seen hundreds of federal agents train alongside UFC fighters and coaches. The footage offers another glimpse into the increasingly close relationship between the promotion, the Trump administration and the constellation of institutions orbiting UFC Freedom 250.
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We’re still awaiting the first fight on tonight’s card: a three-round featherweight scrap between Diego Lopes and Steve Garcia.
Fabiola Cineas
Protesters with the grassroots activist group Third Act Virginia, who stood outside of the Ellipse as UFC fans filed into the viewing area in the afternoon, chanted “Whose house? Our house! Whose lawn? Our lawn!” UFC fans shouted back: “USA! USA! UFC! UFC!” The protesters erected a makeshift cage and filled it with puppets of Trump and his cabinet members. “We made the cage to show them behind bars where they belong – not in the UFC cage, but in a jail cage,” said Marco Smith, a member of Third Act Virginia who led the construction of the cage and puppets.
Luis, 18, and his friend, a 23-year-old UFC fan, who declined to share his name for fear of retribution, said they were at the Ellipse because they are big UFC fans and don’t see the event as political. “It’s the first time anything like this has been done at the White House, and the hype around this was very exciting,” said Luis who traveled in from Colorado. The two said they don’t support Donald Trump and also don’t vote in elections. “I understand why some people are offended by this because it is disruptive. But then I also see the other side. This is bringing people together to watch the event. This could unify people on both sides,” said the friend who resides in Virginia.
Emily Moore, 23, and Nick Cooke, 25, from upstate New York, were at the UFC viewing event to see American UFC fighter Justin Gaethje. “We applied for the tickets and got them, and we love UFC,” said Moore. “But we don’t support Trump at all. I come from a family of immigrants from Puerto Rico and Jamaica,” said Cooke.
Donald Trump and UFC president Dana White have now made their entrance, emerging from the White House to a Color Guard from the “military district of Washington” in a scene that feels equal parts campaign rally, state ceremony and fight night. As the Zac Brown Band reaches the closing bars of the Star-Spangled Banner, a rare Super Delta formation flyover by the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds roars overhead, providing a display of American military might to match the scale of the occasion.
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The four-man studio desk for the broadcast consists of former UFC champions Dominick Cruz, Chris Weidman and Michael Bisping alongside veteran play-by-play broadcaster Brendan Fitzgerald. Judging by the opening segment, they are also serving as tonight’s department of patriotism, a role embraced enthusiastically by all involved, including Bisping despite the minor complication of being English.
“The energy, the spirit, the patriotism and the whole show that was put on – it gave me goosebumps,” Bisping said of Saturday’s Fan Frest at the Ellipse. “It really did. And now, to be sitting here in the White House with the fights starting very, very soon … what an incredible week.”
Weidman then raised the stakes.
“The atmosphere was unbelievable,” he said. “As an American, I haven’t felt that type of patriotism in my life. Everywhere you went, it was ‘USA! USA!’ People just chanting ‘America’ nonstop. It just felt really good. It made me super proud to be American.”
Not to be outdone, Cruz recalled a moment involving the national bird.
“When that eagle flew over the top of us, man, you could shed a tear,” he said. “This is the pinnacle of any athlete’s life – to show up at the White House, much less to get to fight at the White House. So how special is it to be here?”
Fitzgerald completed the sweep.
“Unbelievable,” he said. “And after such success at the Olympics earlier this year – the Winter Olympics – and the Tkachuk brothers from the US gold medal-winning hockey team in attendance tonight as well to celebrate the patriotic spirit that this event does bring.”
For those keeping score at home, the running tally through the opening segment stood at one bald eagle, multiple chants of “USA!”, Olympic heroes, hockey royalty and at least three grown men fighting back goosebumps.
Heidi Androl, a reporter on the UFC’s telecast, says organizers are closely monitoring a line of thunderstorms moving toward Washington, with weather officials focused less on rain than on the threat of high winds and lightning.
“I was just down at the command center and was able to speak with Kevin Mahoney from DTN Weather Services, a private weather company commissioned by the UFC,” Androl says on the Paramount+ broadcast. “They’re working closely with the Presidential Weather Office and the National Weather Service tracking a cell of thunderstorms over West Virginia that is set to move into the Metro DC area between now and 9pm.
“It is not rain that they are concerned with. It is high winds and lightning. I am told that if that happens, a shelter in place will be initiated.”
According to Androl, UFC security officials have designated shelter locations for every department, with personnel on the South Lawn set to move into the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which also houses the fighters’ locker rooms.
She added that any shelter-in-place order would be lifted “within 30 minutes of the last lightning strike within a six-mile radius”, though forecasters currently expect conditions to clear by around 9pm.
Before the cage fighting came the motocross. On Saturday, Nitro Circus star Travis Pastrana and a group of motocross riders performed jumps and stunts on the South Lawn as part of the build-up festivities. Pastrana had been invited by UFC chief executive Dana White to perform a dirt-bike backflip against the backdrop of the White House, a sentence that might have felt ripped from a Mike Judge screenplay not all that long ago. The stunt show formed part of a broader weekend program that has included fighter weigh-ins at the Lincoln Memorial, concerts, fan festivals and enough pyrotechnics to power a national political convention and Wrestlemania back to back. Welcome to Costco, I love you.
Storm forecast delays first fight to 9pm ET
The weather has landed the first blow at UFC Freedom 250. With thunderstorms forecast across the Washington area on Sunday evening, UFC officials delayed the start of the White House card by approximately one hour. Broadcast coverage is still scheduled to begin at 8pm ET on Paramount+, but the first fight is now expected no earlier than 9pm, with promotion officials indicating the exact timing remains subject to changing conditions.
The delay highlights the challenges facing one of the most ambitious events in the UFC’s 33-year history. Mixed martial arts cards are almost always staged indoors, and the promotion has held only one previous open-air event: UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi in 2010. With further storms possible very much in play for later in the evening, Sunday’s card on the White House South Lawn may require additional adjustments before the night is over.
Beyond the octagon, the fighter walkouts and the spectacle of a UFC card on White House grounds lies another story: who gets access and what it costs. Sidney Blumenthal argues that Sunday’s event has become a nexus of political fundraising, corporate influence and presidential branding, with million-dollar donor dinners, seven-figure hospitality packages and a guest list that reads as a who’s who of Trump’s political and business network. For Blumenthal, the looming presence of “the Claw” is merely the most visible symbol of a much larger transaction.
Tonight’s order of play
Here’s a look at tonight’s seven-fight card (in reverse order). The first fight is expected to begin at 8pm ET, with the main event likely shortly before midnight depending on fight length and any weather delays.
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Ilia Topuria v Justin Gaethje, UFC lightweight championship unification (five rounds)
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Alex Pereira v Ciryl Gane, interim UFC heavyweight championship (five rounds)
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Sean O’Malley v Aiemann Zahabi, bantamweights (three rounds)
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Derrick Lewis v Josh Hokit, heavyweights (three rounds)
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Maurício Ruffy v Michael Chandler, lightweights (three rounds)
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Bo Nickal v Kyle Daukaus, middleweights (three rounds)
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Diego Lopes v Steve Garcia, featherweights (three rounds)
The most dangerous opponent on the card may prove to be the weather radar. Thunderstorms remain in the forecast over Washington, with a 60% chance of rain, heavy downpours and wind gusts approaching 34mph threatening to disrupt tonight’s festivities. While the canopy should keep the octagon dry, UFC officials will be monitoring lightning closely. A single strike within eight miles of the venue would trigger an automatic 30-minute suspension of the event.
The Weather Channel highlighted the meteorological challenges earlier on Sunday, warning that oppressive humidity, triple-digit heat indices and even swarms of mosquitoes and gnats could complicate proceedings alongside the threat of thunderstorms.
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About three hours later, the White House’s official rapid response account on X came in hot with a rather different assessment, quote-posting: “This event is about celebrating America’s unmatched greatness after 250 years – which apparently doesn’t sit well with the friendless loser who wrote this bullshit clickbait headline.”
Sheesh!
Preamble
For most of America’s 249-year, 11-month history, the White House lawn has been reserved for state dinners, diplomatic ceremonies, Easter egg rolls, turkey pardons and carefully choreographed displays of presidential power.
After tonight, we can add cage fighting to that list.
Beneath a 92ft superstructure known as “the Claw”, about 4,300 spectators are expected to gather on the South Lawn to watch Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters punch, kick and grapple inside an octagon erected a short walk from the Oval Office. The event, billed as UFC Freedom 250, coincides with Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and forms part of the administration’s broader celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of American independence.
The result is a spectacle without obvious precedent in modern US political life: a private, for-profit sporting event staged on federal grounds, featuring the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotions and unfolding at the official residence of the president of the United States.
By the standards of the Trump era, perhaps that no longer sounds particularly surprising. Yet even by those standards, the scene is extraordinary. Rising above the temporary arena is a lattice of steel, video boards and lighting rigs more that wouldn’t be out of place at a major music festival. Around it sit grandstands, hospitality areas and thousands of seats occupied by invited guests, political allies and US armed forces members required to meet strict weight-to-height and fitness specifications.
The event arrives at a complicated moment for the administration. Earlier on Sunday, Trump announced a peace agreement with Iran that would reopen the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz and bring an end to nearly four months of fighting in the region, though questions remain about the deal’s durability. A legal challenge seeking to halt the White House card was rejected on Friday, clearing the way for an event that critics have portrayed as an extravagant blending of politics, entertainment and private business interests.
Supporters see something else: a celebration of American culture, sporting achievement and the country’s approaching semiquincentennial.
Either way, the imagery promises to be unlike anything previously witnessed at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Over the coming hours, fighters will make their entrances toward an octagon built on the South Lawn. Trump is expected cageside. Thunderstorms remain in the forecast (more on that shortly). And one of the most unusual nights in White House history is about to begin at the top of the hour.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Joseph Gedeon’s lookahead to tonight’s semiquincentennial cage-fighting spectacular.
