Dana White and the UFC have announced the lineup of fighters for the big “Freedom 250” fight event set for the White House in June.
Top billing went to Ilia Topuria, lightweight champ, and Justin Gaethje, interim lightweight champ, for the Sunday, June 14 event planned to be held on the grounds of the White House in Washington, D.C., according to TMZ Sports.
Co-main was assigned to Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane, who will vie for the interim heavyweight belt.
“The rest of the main card rounds out like this … “Suga” Sean O’Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi, Mauricio Ruffy vs. Michael Chandler, Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus, and Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia,” TMZ added.
A key point of these bouts is that each, except for the Pereira-Gane fight, will feature an American fighter.
The event is set to take place on the South Lawn before a limited crowd.
President Trump had confirmed the UFC event at the White House back in October.
In recent weeks, White has struck back at accusations that he has turned the UFC “political” due to his close relationship with Trump.
Last week, White told CBS’s Sunday Morning that he and the president have been good friends for 20 years, long before Trump ran for president. He added that his fans understand his “authenticity.”
“How about you be authentic and just be yourself? How about that? Just be authentic. You don’t have to agree with me, and you don’t have to like it; and I don’t have to agree with you, but we can all still just get along. I mean, that’s how this is supposed to work,” White said.
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