Ilia Topuria v Justin Gaethje to headline UFC White House event, with Alex Pereira meeting Ciryl Gane in heavyweight debut for interim title
Updated 08/03/2026 at 09:05 GMT
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UFC have announced the card for the White House event on June 14, headlined by the undisputed lightweight contest between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje. The fight night, named 'Freedom 250', will also feature light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira meeting Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title, available due to Tom Aspinall's absence from the Octagon following his eye injuries.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
Ilia Topuria will make his return to the Octagon to face interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje in the main event of the UFC White House event on June 14.
The Spain-based fighter, who defeated Charles Oliveira to win the title in June 2025, took personal leave at the end of the year, leading to Gaethje taking on Liverpudlian Paddy Pimblett for the interim crown.
The title will be undisputed once more as the pair headline a bumper card, which was confirmed during UFC 326 on Saturday night.
The co-main event sees light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira move up to heavyweight to take on Ciryl Gane for the interim title, with champion Tom Aspinall still out of the Octagon after requiring eye surgery following his abridged bout with Gane last October.
'Poatan' Pereira is looking to become the first fighter to win UFC titles in three weight divisions after capturing the middleweight and light-heavyweight crowns.
Elsewhere, former bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley takes on fellow contender Aiemann Zahabi, while lightweights Mauricio Ruffy and Michael Chandler meet in what promises to be an explosive contest.
Speaking after UFC 326, UFC president Dana White said: "We're in a unique position where we have guys like Pereira who can become a three-division champion.
"Right now, the time is right for Ilia Topuria, and it should be explosive.
"[Pereira] moving up and taking on a guy like Gane, the way these guys strike, it's going to be very interesting
"And should he win the fight, we'll see what's going on with Tom Aspinall, and it could be him versus Aspinall.
"This card was a lot more difficult than we anticipated, but we got it done. A fight fell through last night, and the team were working on it the entire night."
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Video credit: TNT Sports
Topuria, who is unbeaten in 17 professional MMA fights, took to social media following the announcement of his White House bout with Gaethje, with an image captioned "18-0".
It will be the 29-year-old's first event since knocking out Oliviera at UFC 317 last summer, earning him the lightweight title.
Gaethje took the interim crown after beating Pimblett over five rounds at UFC 324 in Las Vegas in January.
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The White House event, announced by US President Donald Trump last year, has been named UFC Freedom 250, to mark 250 years of American independence.
It will be the first professional live sporting event to take place on the Washington DC grounds, with the bouts set to be held on the White House's South Lawn.
The UFC is reportedly expected to spend around $60 million on the event, while White has said there will be about 5,000 spectators on the South Lawn, though those tickets will not be available to the public.
All UFC events can be re-watched on the streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK, discovery+.
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