Dana White’s UFC will host a historic White House event on June 14 as part of the 250th anniversary of independence.
The Octagon will be set up on the South Lawn of the White House in front of a projected crowd of 5,000. President Donald Trump will oversee the event.
The fightcard for that night includes a lightweight title unification bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje as the main event.
In the co-main event, Alex Pereira will take on three-weight world champion Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title.
The UFC White House event will take place on Trump’s 80th birthday, June 14, and will only feature six fights.
UFC White House Event Whispers
Insider Ariel Helwani says the UFC upper echelon is considering beefing up the card for Freedom 250.
During the last episode of “The Ariel Helwani Show,” it was said, “I’m told they may add one more before it’s all said and done. Maybe one more, but that would be it. They may end with this, six fights, and they may add one more.”
Fans were surprised that Hall-of-Famer Jon Jones was not on the fightcard.
The 38-year-old fighter had entered conversations with UFC about a melee with fellow fan favorite Pereira last week. However, both parties were unable to agree on a deal for the match; therefore, it seems to be dead in the water.
White insisted Jones was not in the running for top billing at the White House event. The fighter demands to be released from his contract if his fighting days with the UFC are over.
Jones posted on X: “Hey everyone, I wanted to address Dana White’s comments from this past weekend, because the truth matters to me and the fans.
“Dana, you were heated about why I’m not on the WHite House card, but let’s clear something up.
“My team and I were actually negotiating with the UFC for that fight. Real negotiations.
“I even came down from my original number, and what was I offered in return? I was lowballed.
“Yes, I have arthritis in my hip and it’s painful, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fight.
“So let me get this straight, if I had accepted the lowball offer, suddenly my hip would be fine and I’d be on the White House card?
“That doesn’t make sense. I even received stem cell treatment last week to get ready for the White House card, and training camp was scheduled to start today.
“I was preparing to be ready.
“I understand business deals fall through sometimes, but going out publicly and saying things that aren’t true isn’t right.
“After everything I’ve given to the UFC, the years, the title defenses, the fights, hearing that I’m ‘done’ is disappointing.
“Especially when as recently as Friday UFC was calling me tryiing to get me on that White House card for a much lower number.
“If the UFC truly feels like I’m done, then I respectfully ask to be released from my contract today.
“No more spins, no more games. Thank you to the real fans who know what’s up.”
Other Scheduled Bouts
The other four fights scheduled for the White House event include a bantamweight bout between Sean O’Malley and Aiemann Zahabi, a lightweight match between Mauricio Ruffy and Michael Chandler, a middleweight fight between Bo Nickal and Kyle Daukaus, and a featherweight bout between Diego Lopes and Steve Gargia.
Sources:
The U.S. Sun: ‘Maybe’ UFC considering making major change to White House card just days after announcement and Jon Jones snub, insider claims
ESPN: UFC’s White House card led by Topuria-Gaethje, Pereira-Gane
Featured Image Courtesy of hjl’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
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