At long last, we have a UFC White House card. And it’s not exactly earth-shattering.
The lineup for the historic June 14 event is official, with undefeated UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria—arguably the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world—headlining against interim champion Justin Gaethje in a unification bout, and Alex Pereira making a long-anticipated move up to heavyweight to fight Ciryl Gane for an interim belt. Not to shabby, but few would argue that it lived up to the massive hype
swirling around the card since President Donald Trump first broke the news.
Another fight or two may be added before it’s all said and done, but for now we have six bouts of varying degrees of importance to look forward to. MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew pulled up to the roundtable to review what we know so far.
Lee
Initial thoughts?
Let’s just call this one “Freedom 250: Overpromised and Underdelivered.”
Best fight
Call me a sicko, but I’m really excited to see what Mauricio Ruffy can do with Michael Chandler.
I’m not just getting hyped for Ruffy styling on Chandler and delivering a highlight-reel knockout (though I’m not not doing that). This, to me, is where the card really kicks into high gear. Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia is a fun but inconsequential starter, and Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus is USA vs. USA, so Chandler truly has a chance to bring the crowd to a fever pitch, something he has done on multiple occasions, win or lose.
Chandler is settling for Brazilian Conor McGregor rather than the real deal, but this could still turn out great for his brand, even in defeat.
Worst fight
Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane. Yeah, I said it!
I just… never really cared for this matchup? It was always Pereira vs. Aspinall for me, or, if we must, Pereira vs. Jon Jones. This feels like leftovers. Because it is! And it’s for an interim title, which tarnishes the whole “champ-champ-champ” thing Pereira is going for, in my opinion (I can’t believe I’m agreeing with Henry Cejudo, but here we are). Will anyone regard Pereira as the legitimate No. 1 heavyweight if he wins?
This should be a fine fight when it happens and Gane has a strong chance to foil Pereira’s plans for world domination. So we could really just be setting up Gane vs. Aspinall 2. Yay?
Overall grade: A
I’m choosing to ignore the ridiculous expectations set by Dana White and Donald Trump and view this for what it is in a void, which is a great card with two intriguing title fights (Pereira vs. Gane being my least-anticipated fight actually speaks to its strength), and a smattering of matchups that have decent narratives behind them. Plus, six-fight cards rule and the norm should be closer to that number than the 12-fight blobs being shoveled at us.
Cruz
Initial thoughts?
This Freedom 250 announcement felt like going to bed dreaming about a UFC 300-level card and waking up to UFC Uberlândia. Dana White promised fans a lineup like “the Sphere on steroids” and I guess that’s fair since UFC Sphere sucked. It was theatrical spectacle, but far from a fantastic event in the end. That could sound familiar soon.
Best fight
I’m torn between the main and co-main events, but Topuria vs. Gaethje takes the honors. Pereira vs. Gane could very well deliver a violent knockout if the Brazilian lands a “Chama” punch on the button, of course, but the main event will probably only last a round and be insane for as long as it goes.
Not sure if it’s the best idea to end the MURICA celebration with an American athlete getting face-planted on the ground in front of birthday boy Donald Trump, but that’s what you’re probably getting on June 14.
Worst fight
That’s Sean O’Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi and it’s not even close.
You’re a legit fighter if you win seven fights in a row in the UFC, regardless of the level of competition you’re facing, and Zahabi has done that against some recognizable names, from Jose Aldo to Marlon Vera to Pedro Munhoz. My brain easily forgot those 45 minutes a long time ago, and that’s the issue here.
O’Malley is a star, and has been one for a while. If the UFC wants to use a huge platform to promote this flashy striker getting a knockout, maybe Zahabi shouldn’t be the opponent. He ruined Aldo’s retirement fight with a boring performance (winning fair and square) and now faces off with a fan-favorite at the most anticipated MMA event ever. Brilliant call, really.
Overall grade: B
Let’s not get crazy here. The White House event is a good one—well, at least half of a good one. Who would ever crap on a card with generational talents Topuria and Pereira? Having said that, when you promise the greatest card of all time and then see people debating if it’s better than an event headlined by retired 40-year-olds Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano, and Francis Ngannou sharing the ring with a relatively unknown 205-pounder Philipe Lins in the second most important fight on the night, you know you haven’t done a good job.
Heck
Initial thoughts?
There are two things that are quite obvious following the reaction by the fan base: The fans are pissed off, and the UFC doesn’t care that they are pissed off.
Dana White’s tone following the announcement at multiple press conferences tells you that. While my socks are completely on while being promised—once again—they would be blown off of my feet, I think this is still pretty solid.
Best fight
It’s quite obviously Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane because of the historical stakes attached to it, and what could come from it. If Pereira wins, he’s a three-division champ and the UFC will treat him as such, and probably as the actual champion more than Tom Aspinall; if Gane wins, it’s the biggest and best of his career and makes the Aspinall rematch bigger.
Worst fight
Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus. I don’t think it’s a bad fight, and quite frankly, this is actually really good matchmaking for this kind of plan, but it’s certainly the “one of these things is not like the other” fight on the card. Obviously, Nickal vs. Colby Covington was the way to go. No clue why it didn’t happen, and I doubt Covington turned him down if it meant fighting on the White House card. But throwing Nickal in there with Daukaus is fine because this is the only fight where an American fighter is going to win.
Now, if the UFC booked this fight expressly so Nickal can get a win, they need to be careful. Daukaus has fought WAY BETTER competition than Bo, and has done so for a lot longer. Daukaus could absolutely win this fight, and if he does, the USA chants can still happen.
Overall grade: B
It’s more of an 89 out of 100 score. We are getting Ilia Topuria and Alex Pereira on the same card. That’s pretty wild. But on the other side, it’s against people who were clearly Option B or C for the fans. This wasn’t the best they could do, not even close, but for what today’s UFC has become, this is probably as good of an effort as we’ll get this year.
Martin
Initial thoughts?
For a UFC card in 2026, this is stacked, but there’s no way the lineup could deliver compared to the bombastic promises made for the greatest card in the history of combat sports. Did we learn nothing from the UFC 300 main event fiasco?
Best fight
Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia and I’m not kidding whatsoever.
Based on the opening odds, almost every fight on this card features a heavy favorite that’s expected to win. The co-main event between Pereira and Gane features the closest line, but styles make fights and there’s almost no chance that Lopes vs. Garcia doesn’t deliver some crazy action for however long it lasts.
Outside of his losses to Alexander Volkanovski, Lopes has produced some of the best fights over the past few years in the featherweight division and Garcia is riding a seven-fight win streak with six knockouts along the way. Yes, Garcia is the underdog but he’s very much in the prime of his career right now and so is Lopes so this should be an absolute banger and might just steal Fight of the Night from usual winners like Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler.
Worst fight
Sean O’Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi definitely gets the “what were the matchmakers thinking with this one” award for the White House card. To his credit, Zahabi has been on a good streak lately and picked up some solid wins to establish himself as a top 10 bantamweight, but Cory Sandhagen was right there begging for this fight against O’Malley (he’s actually been calling for that fight for years).
O’Malley vs. Sandhagen might have taken the top spot for best fight on this card if it was happening. Somebody from the UFC really needs to explain themselves when it comes to O’Malley vs. Zahabi because it simply makes no sense.
Overall grade: B
It’s not the nine-fight title card or whatever ridiculous promise that was made leading up to the UFC White House announcement but by any measure this is a really good lineup. There’s also a chance we get six fights and six finishes and that would certainly make Dana White and the rest of the UFC brass very happy.
Meshew
Initial thoughts?
This is a perfectly fine fight card that in no way meets the moment or delivers on the promises made by all involved. There’s nothing unique about it. It could be a card set for anywhere in the world. And given what we know about what could have happened, the card is a huge condemnation of where the UFC is at the moment.
Also, the “Freedom 250” thing is shockingly gauche.
Best fight
It’s probably Pereira vs. Gane because that’s the most meaningful fight, but it’s hard to get too pumped on “Poatan” fighting the fourth-best HW in the world, given what it will mean (or what they’ll say it means) if he wins. Plus, it’s a Gane fight, and those can be terrible.
Give me Lopes vs. Garcia, which is terrific matchmaking and almost guaranteed to be incredibly fun.
Worst fight
Topuria vs. Gaethje.
I’m tempted to put O’Malley vs. Zahabi, because it’s so transparently obvious what they UFC is doing with that one, but I can’t get over the main event. We all knew this fight was coming, but there was at least some hope that Topuria might fight Arman Tsarukyan afterward. But with the UFC apparently already trying to book Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev at welterweight (one of the most ludicrous things the promotion has done in years), that’s not happening. Topuria’s lightweight run ends with Gaethje, which is massively disappointing.
Overall grade: C
Unlike the Prince of Positivity, I am grading on a curve. If this event were simply UFC Miami, it would be an above average PPV, by modern standards. But it’s not that. This is supposed to be the biggest, most unique event in promotional history, a true one-off, and the UFC booked a bunch of leftover matchups.
I tried to be positive when the card was first announced, but over the past few days it’s been impossible to maintain. The UFC wanted Jones vs. Pereira and Islam vs. Ilia, we got Pereira vs. Gane and Ilia vs. Gaethje. Plus four more fights that range from Good to Whatever.
This is a deeply, deeply disappointing event.
