The UFC has finally announced the fight card for its unprecedented event at the White House, with superstars Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje squaring off in the main event over lightweight gold.
On 14 June, the UFC will help US president Donald Trump, a close friend of UFC president Dana White, celebrate 250 years of the United States by staging a series of fights in Washington DC. The event in fact coincides with Mr Trump’s 80th birthday.
The Octagon is expected to be built on the South Lawn, with limited attendees permitted in the cageside area, but with other zones – containing big screens – potentially open to thousands of fans.
Whoever is present will watch Topuria and Gaethje. clash in the main event, while the rest of the fight card is as follows:
Ilia Topuria (C) 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)
Topuria has not fought since knocking out Charles Oliveira to become a two-division champion in the UFC at the age of just 28, with the Georgian-Spaniard spending time out of the cage as he dealt with personal matters.
In that period away, Gaethje outclassed Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324 to become interim lightweight champion and will now hope to avoid becoming the latest legend to be slept by Topuria in their title unification bout, with the likes of Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski also falling to “El Matador’s” power before.
In the co-main event, Alex Pereira – fresh off relinquishing his light-heavyweight crown – will fight for interim heavyweight gold as he takes on Ciryl Gane, looking to conquer a record-breaking third division in the UFC.
Reigning heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall remains sidelined with a serious eye injury after being poked in both eyes by Gane in their title bout at UFC 321, though did confirm he had finally returned to the gym after four months out at his Matchroom unveiling on Friday.
White confirmed following the card announcement that Aspinall remained in his plans and he would be set to face the winner of Pereira vs Gane to unify the titles.
The news was announced during the UFC 326 broadcast on Saturday night, before Holloway put the “Baddest Motherf*****” title on the line against Oliveira in the main event in Las Vegas.
On Friday, White actually confirmed that a planned White House fight had fallen through that very day, showing how fragile matchmaking can be in a sport like mixed martial artists – especially given how frequently injuries occur.
Senior figures at the UFC and within its ownership group have suggested that the White House event will cost around $60m to put on, but allegedly at no cost to the taxpayer.
Mr Trump previously said there would be eight to nine fights at the White House, and that every one would be a title bout.
Back in September, White hinted at the possibility of snipers lining the roof of the White House as a security measure for this summer’s UFC event.
