Opinions are all over the map for the big announcement of the
oft-discussed
Ultimate Fighting Championship White House event.

On the main card broadcast of Saturday’s
UFC 326 offering, during the conclusion of the four-fight
portion simulcast on the CBS network, the promotion revealed all
six bouts that will be held on its fabled UFC White House card. The
event, also titled “Freedom 250,” will feature a pair of
championship tilts including one unification match and another for
an interim strap. The bout that will headline the June 14 show on
the White House grounds in Washington, D.C., will be one rumored
for some time: Ilia
Topuria (17-0) vs. Justin
Gaethje (27-5) for the undisputed lightweight championship.

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Topuria serves as one of a small number of two-division champions
in organizational history, as he picked up the featherweight strap
in 2024 by sparking Alexander
Volkanovski with one punch atop UFC 298. He defended that
throne once by icing Max
Holloway in the UFC 308 main attraction, and vacated that belt
to move to 155 pounds. In the main event of UFC 317, Topuria
demolished former kingpin Charles
Oliveira to pick up the vacant strap. “El Matador” needed to
take some time off to resolve family matters, resulting in the
promotion granting an interim title opportunity to his upcoming
opponent.

“The Highlight” Gaethje secured interim gold for the second time
when he beat Paddy
Pimblett at UFC 324 in January, reaching the status he
previously achieved when smashing Tony
Ferguson for that interim belt back in 2020. Gaethje’s previous
effort to unify that belt came up short when he suffered his first
career submission loss to Khabib
Nurmagomedov later that year. A 15-fight UFC veteran, the
Arizonan has earned 15 post-fight bonus awards for his thrilling
performances since joining the roster in 2017.

A New Chapter in the Record Books

In an attempt to make major MMA organizational history, Alex
Pereira (13-3) will be moving up to heavyweight in an effort to
secure the interim belt against former champ Ciryl Gane
(13-2, 1 NC). Another member of the two-division champ club,
Pereira previously held the middleweight and light heavyweight
thrones, even holding the latter twice. Of note, Anatoly
Malykhin held the 205-pound and 225-pound championships as well
as the heavyweight strap concurrently in One Championship, although
the league has since lost “major” status due to its overall lack of
MMA matches.

Opponent Gane has circled the title picture since one-upping
Alexander
Volkov back in 2021, picking up the interim variety once before
against Derrick
Lewis that year. Like the aforementioned Gaethje, Gane was
unable to secure undisputed status as Francis
Ngannou outpointed him in their subsequent bout. Gane later
fell short against Jon Jones for
the undisputed crown, losing by stoppage for the first time in his
career. He picked up wins over Serghei
Spivac and Volkov again to put himself back in contention, only
for an eye poke in the first round to scuttle his title tilt
against Tom
Aspinall in 2025.

Moving down the main card—the promotion has not yet determined
whether part or all of the event will air on CBS on that unique
Sunday show—the UFC also put together a possible title eliminator
at 135 pounds. Looking to make his way back to gold will be
Sean
O’Malley (19-3, 1 NC) taking on Aiemann
Zahabi (14-2) in a U.S. vs. Canada excursion. “Suga” put a pair
of defeats to champ Merab
Dvalishvili behind him by snagging a decision over Yadong Song
in January. On the other hand, adversary Zahabi has won seven
straight dating back to 2021, including a pair of decisions over
Jose
Aldo and Marlon Vera
in 2025.

Putting a member of the vaunted Fighting Nerds team on display,
Mauricio
Ruffy (13-2) will battle hard-nosed American wrestle-boxer
Michael
Chandler (23-10) in a lightweight showcase effort. The
Brazilian has won four of five since making his organizational
debut in 2024, with his most recent victory a knockout of striking
coach Rafael
Fiziev in January. While Ruffy has largely succeeded as of
late, Chandler has not gotten his hand raised since he posterized
Ferguson with a front kick in 2022. This includes a trio of losses
plus a number of failed attempts to face Conor
McGregor after coaching against him in the 31st season of “The
Ultimate Fighter.”

In the lone all-American bout on the billing, three-time NCAA
Division I wrestling champion Bo Nickal
(8-1) collides with fellow Pennsylvanian Kyle
Daukaus (17-4, 1 NC). Nickal saw his undefeated record crumble
last year when Reinier
de Ridder put him away with a knee to the body. He got back on
the winning track by blasting Rodolfo
Vieira with a head kick in November at UFC 322. Foe Daukaus
returned to the promotion after getting cut in 2022 to shock
Michel
Pereira with a 43-second knockout in a late-notice appearance
at UFC Fight Night 257. He promptly tapped out grappling ace
Gerald
Meerschaert in 50 seconds in November to push his overall win
streak to six in a row.

Barring a late addition—UFC chief Dana White suggested that there
may be a seventh match booked, while also stating on a Powerslap
broadcast on Friday that one of the fights for this card fell
through—the event will kick off with a featherweight banger between
Diego
Lopes (27-8) and Steve
Garcia (19-5). Since his unsuccessful debut against Movsar
Evloev in 2023, the only man to beat Lopes in the Octagon has
been Volkanovski. Ultraviolent Jackson-Wink product Garcia has been
a man possessed since getting knocked out by Maheshate
Hayisaer in 2022, racking up seven wins including six
knockouts.

UFC White House “Freedom 250” Lineup:

Ilia
Topuria vs. Justin
Gaethje—lightweight title
Alex
Pereira vs. Ciryl
Gane—interim heavyweight title
Sean
O’Malley vs. Aiemann
Zahabi—bantamweight
Mauricio
Ruffy vs. Michael
Chandler—lightweight
Bo
Nickal vs. Kyle
Daukaus—middleweight
Diego
Lopes vs. Steve
Garcia—featherweight

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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