UFC Freedom 250 Live Updates, Results and Highlights From the White House

Joe Rogan made the call immediately.

"One of the great upsets in the history of the sport," he said, as Gaethje climbed the cage and backflipped onto the mat.

The reason? After a gut-wrenchingly violent four rounds, one of Topuria's corner team stopped the fight due to hideous damage around the Spaniard's eyes.

"If there was a setting for a monumental upset," analyst Daniel Cormier said, "this was it."

Gaethje's corner implored him to press the action, and he immediately sought a tie-up as the round began, before Topuria got it back to distance tried to regather his energy. Topuria looked slower as Gaethje began working with the jab and landed a big right hand. A tie-up on the mat followed before Topuria rose with blood all over his face.

Topuria worked for the body and landed a right hand that stiffened Gaethje, who rallied with his own right that prompted Topuria to move away.

"Oh my goodness," analyst Daniel Cormier said. "I've never seen Ilia look like this."

Topuria consistently moved forward and landed well but it was not one-sided in nature. Gaethje continued to land jabs and right hands when the two exchanged blows. Topuria took them well, however, and the Spaniard appeared fresher and sharper midway through the round. He scored with his own uppercuts and worked the body as Gaethje sagged to the mat at the 3:00 mark, allowing Topuria to chase armbar and triangle submissions.

Both seemed winded in the final minute as Topuria, in side control, did little in terms of ground offense and Gaethje survived to the horn.

Anyone expecting a quick blowout win for Topuria was instantly unsettled when the underdog Gaethje landed a hard left jab in the first 10 seconds. He bloodied the champion with an uppercut after bluffing a takedown and landed several hard right hands. Topuria was unfazed, however, and did his best work in the last 60 seconds, throwing in combinations and landing a hard shot to the body.

Jon Jones gave little more than a smirk in reaction to Ciryl Gane's wipeout of Alex Pereira in the co-main event.

Lest anyone forget, Jones got a tap-out win in less than half a round (2:04 to be exact) when he met Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023.

Six fights and six stoppages. In fact, not even a third round.

And if the oddsmakers at DraftKings have it right, it'll be seven for seven.

It'll take a $1,400 outlay to recoup just $100 for a bet the main event between Topuria and Gaethje stops short of the five-round distance. Betting the two of them go five rounds, meanwhile, would pay $650 for $100.

Topuria has gone the distance just twice in nine UFC fights, while Gaethje just four times in 15 fights.

The crowd that exploded when Pereira arrived went silent soon after.

A lead right from Gane dumped Pereira to the floor and set up a series of hard strikes that could have drawn a rescue from Herb Dean, who let it continue. It didn't do anything but allow Gane to deliver more punishment, though, and Pereira was both semi-conscious and tumbling backward to the fence when the call was made at 1:27 of the round.

"I'm really proud of myself. Really proud of my team," said Gane, now a two-time interim champion in the weight class. "We knew that it was possible to do. We knew that."

Pereira, lumpy and reddened around the eyes, said a continued campaign at heavyweight was up for discussion.

"This was a risk. If I hadn't taken a risk every time I fought I wouldn't be where I am today," he said. "We're gonna sit down and look at it. The same way as when I lost at middleweight."

Pereira came out aggressive immediately with a high kick that barely missed and he scored well early with kicks to the Frenchman's legs. But Gane began looking comfortable about two minutes in, bouncing in and out scoring with a southpaw jab and inside kicks to the right-handed Pereira's left (left) leg.

It's not the full-fledged heavyweight belt. Yet. But it is impressive.

A win over Ciryl Gane would make Alex Pereira the first fighter to earn gold in three weight classes, even if tonight's bout is only for an interim championship.

Dana White, in fact, said a win lifts the Brazilian over Jon Jones on the GOAT list.

O'Malley wanted a memorable KO. And he predicted it would happen.

But the novelty of his walk-off salute, though, made an impact.

"That was sexy," he said.

It was his 12th win in 15 UFC fights and second straight since a second loss to then-champ Merab Dvalishvili in July 2025. And now, another title shot beckons.

"Petr Yan. It should have been him here tonight," O'Malley said. "I don't know why he didn't show up. But that's who I want."

O'Malley switched to southpaw, probably because of the punishment he'd taken to his left leg, and continued to press with his hands while Zahabi continued to fight in quick kicking bursts.

A left abruptly rattled Zahabi and a follow-up one-two dumped him to the floor, giving O'Malley the chance for a walk-off saluting KO as Jason Herzog intervened.

A little quick on the stoppage, maybe. But the visuals were strong.

O'Malley began the round stepping forward and switching stances as Zahabi moved laterally around the cage's perimeter. Zahabi occasionally charged forward and landed hard kicks to O'Malley's left leg.

O'Malley landed a hard left late in the round and finished with a few more strikes.

Sean O'Malley believes a vintage KO over Aiemann Zahabi will get him a title shot.

"I will break Aiemann," he said. "I'm just on another level."

The mismatch continued into the second as a faster, sharper Hokit won every exchange and battered the by now exhausted Lewis into near surrender.

A flurry left Lewis reeling backward and turning away as he hit the ground, and Hokit pounced with a series of ground strikes before Herb Dean stepped in at 4:09.

Not surprisingly, a verbal shot across the bow to Alex Pereira followed.

"I'm the man with the plan. The beast that's ready to feast," he said. "And to Alex Pereira, I wanna chama on your momma."

A WWE/UFC crossover, as Roman Reigns takes in the action at the White House.

Hokit dominated. First on the feet and then when he took Lewis down and bloodied him with shots as the veteran turned away. Lewis survived, but ended the round fighting off an armbar submission try.

It may not last long, but the imminent heavyweight scrap between Josh Hokit and Derrick Lewis ought to be fun for as long as it goes.

Hokit is the promotion's emerging big boy with three wins since a Contender Series victory in 2025. Meanwhile, Lewis is the promotion's most prolific knockout artist.

And regardless of who wins, the post-fight chat will probably be memorable.

Mauricio Ruffy was "only" a ninth-ranked lightweight coming in but he looked a lot more like an imminent threat to whomever is ruling the 155-pounders.

His erasure of Chandler was his fifth win in six UFC fights and fourth KO.

And he managed to work in a proposal, too.

"I've been training so much and I'm very happy with this performance," he said. "I've been training so much to be the champion of this division. I want to be the champion. I do believe that I am next up."

Taller, longer and younger than his 40-year-old foe, Ruffy scored with a hard kick to Chandler's leg and backed him up soon after with a long left jab. Chandler spent time moving laterally and seemed unsure whether or when to shoot for takedowns.

A spinning heel kick left the older man wobbling and he reeled as Ruffy pursued, and another spinning kick followed by four hard punches made it academic and prompted a Mike Beltran rescue at 4:29.

Tyson Fury crashed the party for a fight announcement, sort of.

The former two-rime Ring Magazine heavyweight boxing champion declined to break the news on a specific fight, suggesting Dana White would handle that role, but he talked up a possible matchup with Anthony Joshua at the end of this year.

"Very, very, very excited for this fight," he said. "It's been over a decade in the making."

Former lightweight title challenger Michael Chandler has an uphill battle in the next bout against Mauricio Ruffy.

He's lost three straight and five of six, been finished three times, and is a big underdog at +400.

Nickal said he'd seen the finish of Daukaus coming, one way or another.

"I visualized about a hundred different ways to finish that guy," he said. "That was one of them."

Nickal got things to the floor quickly, ducking under a punch and picking Daukaus up for a slam takedown inside the first 30 seconds. A hard elbow strike from Nickal drew blood from the Philadelphian's forehead over his left eye.

But referee Jason Herzog stood the fighters up with about 90 seconds left, and Nickal took care of matters standing with a left-right combination. Daukaus went to the floor, Nickal pounced and Herzog stopped it at 4:34.

He's the B-side to a three-time collegiate wrestling champion, but Kyle Daukaus has been winning a lot lately. He was 2-4 in his first UFC stint, but went 4-0 away from the promotion and is 2-0 since returning. No losses since 2022.

Lopes gets the celebration image of the night after squashing Garcia.

Middleweights Bo Nickal and Kyle Daukaus will walk next.

Nickal was a decorated wrester at Penn State. Daukaus is from Philadelphia.

Garcia was aggressive through the first, leaving Lopes tentative. But once Lopes landed a shot early in the second, he finished things quickly.

A pair of left hooks sent Garcia to the floor, where a series of hammers brought Mike Beltran in for the stoppage at 2:42.

"Nobody can beat me at 145 pounds," Lopes said.

He's already the voice of the promotion. And it looks like he's the fashion plate, too.

Let the record show that Steve Garcia, a 34-year-old born in Albuquerque, was the first fighter of the night to make the walk from the locker room to the cage.

He emerged at 8:44 p.m.

The Zac Brown Band does the national anthem in the cage. There's a joint military flyover from the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds. The president walks out alongside Dana White.

Surreal much? Yep, says Joe Rogan.

"I have seen some surreal things in my life," he said. "This is the most surreal."

The original event time has arrived but the fights haven't begun. The hope is 9 p.m. or thereabouts, with high winds and lightning as the main issues.

But analyst Dominick Cruz suggested, once the fights begin, the fighters won't be concerned.

"These are some of the toughest athletes on earth," Cruz said. "So I don't think they're going to feel a little bit of heat and a little bit of wind."

Middleweight champ Sean Strickland was escorted from the premises after arriving for the Fan Fest.

The fights will now get started at 9 p.m., not 8, per the UFC.

What a setup for tonight's fights!

The fights were supposed to begin at 8 or shortly after, but the UFC saying "coverage" now begins at 8 likely means there's at least some delay in the action, too.

We're still a few hours from the first strikes and takedowns in the cage, but that doesn't mean there won't be excitement ahead of time. The UFC has advised Fan Fest attendees to plan accordingly.