UFC Freedom 250 was a one-off, unique event held on the south lawn of the White House. The event marked the 250th anniversary of the USA’s Declaration of Independence.
The event was scheduled for Independence Day, July 4th, but was moved to Trump’s birthday on June 14th, amidst much criticism.
The event showcased a main card of just eight fights. It was the first UFC card in history with all fights ending with a KO/TKO.
TOP PERFORMER: JUSTIN GAETHJE
Not many give Gaethje a chance in this title fight. Although he impressively beat Paddy Pimblett to win the interim title, he was fighting Ilia Topuria, whose last three wins were Volkanovski, Holloway and Oliveira, all by knockout.
However, Topuria was coming into this fight after a year out, and Gaethje, the more active and bigger man, started the fight better and cut Topuria in the first round. Topuria pushed the pace in the second with some brutal body shots that put Gaethje down, who did well to survive two submission attempts.
In the third, Gaethje hurt a physically tired Topuria several times to win the round. The doctors almost stopped Topuria from coming out for the fourth due to the damage. Gaethje pushed the pace in the fourth, easily won the round and with Topuria’s face a bloody mess, he quit on his stool to crown Gaethje UFC lightweight champion.
TOP PERFORMER 2: CIRYL GANE
Although Alex Pereira was moving up to heavyweight, many were expecting him to make history as the first three-weight champion in the UFC. Gane, disappointed in his last three title fights, losing to Ngannou, Jones, then a no-contest following an eye poke to Aspinall.
Gane looked good from the first bell and just shaded the first round, although Pereira finished the round well with a good short right hand. However, in the second, Gane quickly caught the surprisingly slower Pereira with a short right hand that dropped him.
Pereira did well to get up despite some questionable elbows to the back of the head. But with Pereira looking unsteady, Gane followed with some brutal left and right hands, forcing Herb Dean to stop the fight, making Gane a two-time interim heavyweight champion.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Josh Hokit extended his record to 10-0 and continued his push for a title shot with a severe beatdown of an exhausted Derrick Lewis for two rounds. Hokit showed quick hands and punching power throughout and eventually dropped Lewis, then stopped him for his second win in just over two months.
Diego Lopes opened the card with a devastating second-round KO of Steve Garcia. Lopes navigated a busy first round from Garcia to come out in the second and force Garcia into a brawl, where he connected with several powerful hooks to drop Garcia, then put him out with powerful shots on the ground.
Sean O’Mally added to his catalogue of impressive walk-off knockouts with a second-round knockout of Aiemann Zahabi. After an even first, O’Malley pushed the pace in the second and, after some success, slightly compromised by Zahabi’s leg kicks, he exploded with a superb straight left to drop Zahabi, then finished it with a clean overhand right.
