Lots of knockouts, pageantry, and a few big upsets at UFC event on White House lawn
Lots of knockouts, pageantry, and a few big upsets at UFC event on White House lawn
In the main event, Justin Gaethje pummeled Ilila Topuria, the undefeated titleholder, to win the UFC lightweight belt with President Donald Trump watching close by.
Trump celebrates 80th birthday with UFC Fight at White House
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Updated June 15, 2026, 1:20 AM EDT
By Greg Rosenstein, Andrew Greif, and Tim Rohan
WASHINGTON — In one of the most surreal sporting events in history, the UFC hosted a fight card on the South Lawn of the White House on Sunday. And even with rain and gusty winds threatening to derail the mixed martial arts card, it mostly went on as planned with President Donald Trump watching all night from cageside next to UFC President Dana White.
More than 4,000 spectators — Trump, Vice President JD Vance, members of his cabinet including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, VIPs and active military members — were on hand as cage fights took place just feet from the Oval Office.
At one point, the crowd even sang “Happy Birthday” to Trump as he sat in the audience. The president turned 80 on Sunday.
Before everything kicked off, a flyover by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels during the national anthem got the packed crowd in a frenzy. Then came the fights.
In the main event, Justin Gaethje became UFC lightweight champion with a fourth-round TKO victory over previously unbeaten titleholder Ilila Topuria. With Trump looking on just feet away, Gaethje landed a huge combination in the third round that bloodied the face of Topuria to the point that the fight was nearly called off by the on-site doctor. He continued in the fourth but took so much of a beating that Topuria’s team threw in the towel after it ended.
The co-main event saw Ciryl Gane claim the interim heavyweight title with a shocking knockout of former light heavyweight and middleweight champion Alex Peireira. Gane dropped him late in the second round with a straight right and pounced before raining down blows. When the referee stepped in to end it early, the crowd was so perplexed it was silent for a few seconds before the music came on and fans started clapping.
Diego Lopes, Bo Nickal, Mauricio Ruffy, Josh Hokit, and Sean O’Malley won the five bouts earlier in the evening.
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10h ago / 1:20 AM EDT
As Gaethje celebrates, Trump and family enter octagon to end the night
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Andrew Greif
Justin Gaethje spoke for an extended time in the octagon after the win with Donald Trump Jr. The president, first lady and UFC boss Dana White smiled as they watched fireworks go off over the Washington Monument.
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10h ago / 1:10 AM EDT
Enormous upset win by Justin Gaethje ends ‘Freedom 250’ card
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Andrew Greif
The “Freedom 250” UFC card at the White House ended after midnight Monday morning with an upset victory by American Justin Gaethje over Ilia Topuria, giving Gaethje the lightweight title belt while handing Topuria the first loss of his career.
Topuria entered as one of the top UFC fighters, having already won two divisions while staying undefeated, but Gaethje hurt the belt-holder so much that after the fourth round, Topuria’s corner stopped the right rather than send him out for a fifth and final round.
Gaethje celebrated by climbing to the top of the octagon cage and backflipping, then shaking President Trump’s hand.
Both fighters landed multiple punches in the first round after neither fighter opted to begin conservatively. Gaethje, the underdog, bloodied the right side of Topuria’s face.
Justin Gaethje defeated Ilia Topuria in the UFC Freedom 250 main event at the White House on yesterday. Natalie Keyssar for NBC News
Topuria’s uppercuts began to wear down his challenger in the second round, and Gaethje staggered into a corner before falling to the mat directly in front of where Trump and First Lady Melania Trump sat in the front row. Topuria pounced onto the American fighter in hopes of winning by submission, but Gaethje survived to a third round.
A stunning moment came midway through the third round when Gaethje’s jab directly to Topuria’s right eye sent him to the ground to chants of “U-S-A!” from the pro-U.S. audience. Blood from multiple cuts covered Topuria’s face. By round’s end, a ringside doctor checked Topuria’s vision and shook his head seemingly ready to stop the fight, only for the fight to resume — after Topuria had received an extra minute to recover due to the assessment.
“None of this is good!” the broadcast team said.
Topuria avoided a knockout in the fourth round and had gone to his corner when the fight was ended.
