It hasn’t happened without plenty of speculation and skepticism, but UFC’s Freedom 250 card is set to commence on the White House lawn this Sunday. Although stalwart names like Conor McGregor and Jon “Bones” Jones were ultimately left off the card for their respective reasons, Dana White and company have still managed to put together a card that fits the prestige of the moment despite the fact that it will be jammed into seven nationally televised fights.
Fights of the Night
The most intriguing fight on the card is the main event, featuring lightweight champion Ilia Topuria and interim belt holder Justin Gaethje to determine who will become the division’s true champion. Despite a nearly year-long absence from fighting following a hotly contested divorce and custody battle with his now ex-wife, Topuria is heavily favored for Saturday’s fight and his better than -500 odds still seem relatively valuable considering where he and Gaethje are at in their journey.
The co-main event features MMA’s biggest star not named McGregor or Jones in Alex “Poatan” Pereira, who is facing off against Cyril Gane for the interim heavyweight title belt. Tom Aspinall currently holds the official heavyweight title, but hasn’t fought since October after his title fight against Gane at UFC 321 ended in an eye poke that has still rendered Aspinall unable to fight or even see properly. A Gane upset would set up an intriguing rematch if and when Aspinall is set to return, but I think everyone would agree that Pereira vs. Aspinall is even more of a barnburner if Aspinall can get back to fighting shape.
Down the Card
One fight that will probably set social media on fire is the fourth bout of the night between the ever controversial Josh Hokit and President Trump’s favorite knockout artist, Derrick Lewis. Hokit, the heavy favorite, is almost certain to say something completely unhinged in his post-fight interview that CBS is just as likely to have a dump button for. And we all know Lewis is no stranger to a wild comment himself, although his usually go in a different direction.
The folks present in the Nation’s Capital will also be treated to the latest episode of the “Suga Show”, as Sean O’Malley is set to take on Aiemann Zahabi. O’Malley enters as a heavy favorite following his narrow victory over Song Yadong in February. Zahabi enters the bout on a seven-fight winning streak but hasn’t faced a fighter nearly the caliber of O’Malley. Beyond that, O’Malley is one of the few fighters in the company who has experience fighting in somewhat of a spectacle after he headlined the Sphere card, so I’d assume he’ll know how to handle it better himself this time and certainly better than his far less experienced opponent.
Will the fights live up to the hype? That remains to be seen, but it’s certainly a card that has intrigue despite all the hoops that had to be jumped through to get here. The spectacle is going to be one thing, but even if you’re not for all of the pomp and circumstance, there’s intrigue to be found here.