Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje are officially set for a title-unification showdown atop UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the White House in Washington D.C.
Topuria enters the main event as the lightweight champion after knocking out Charles Oliveira to claim the vacant belt at UFC 317, an event that also saw Gaethje, Arman Tsarukyan, and Paddy Pimblett in attendance.
Following UFC 317, Pimblett faced off with Topuria in the octagon, but it was Gaethje who went on to secure the interim title. He was matched against Pimblett for the interim belt at UFC 324 in January and defeated him to claim the strap.
Topuria admitted he expected a different opponent for this historic card. "I'm surprised because I thought that Paddy was going to win that fight against Justin," he said. He added, "I was thinking to myself before that fight that I would face Paddy, because since the first moment that they announced the White House, I always knew that I would be in that event. So I was like, if Justin is fighting against Paddy, I'm going to fight the winner, and I think that Paddy is going to win that fight. I was surprised because of that."
Topuria brings a 17-0 MMA record and a 9-0 UFC mark into UFC Freedom 250, while Gaethje carries a 27-5 MMA record and a 10-5 UFC slate into the unification bout.
