Dana White has laid out how and why the UFC Freedom 250 fight card came together for the June 14 event on the South Lawn of the White House.
The card, first revealed in March, features two title fights: Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje in a lightweight title unifier and Ciryl Gane vs. Alex Pereira for the interim heavyweight title. Other announced bouts include Sean O'Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi, Michael Chandler vs. Mauricio Ruffy, Kyle Daukaus vs. Bo Nickal, and Steve Garcia vs. Diego Lopes. Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis was added to the lineup at the request of President Trump.
Conor McGregor and Jon Jones are not on the UFC Freedom 250 card, and there are no women’s fights booked. Addressing that, White said, "There was supposed to be women on the card," and added, "I wanted women on the card. It just didn't work out that way."
White, who had previously promised "the baddest card of all time.", emphasized that the unique White House setting heavily influenced fighter selection. "The only thing I really cared about going into this card was having people I could depend on being on the card, fighters that you know," he explained, noting the "levels of stress and weird things" fighters will face with "crazy security" and unfamiliar rooms inside the White House.
"So, you need not only the best fights you could possibly make because they mean something and they matter in our ecosystem," White said. "You also need fighters you could trust that are gonna show up and deliver, and mentally and emotionally be able to deal with the different atmosphere they're gonna be in that night. And that is the card that we built."
