After months of answering questions about this spring’s White House fight card, UFC CEO Dana White on Saturday announced a six-fight slate for Freedom Fights 250, taking place on June 14 in Washington, DC, on the White House South Lawn. At the top of the card, the Lightweight Champion Ilya Topuria and interim champion Justin Gaethje Will fight for the right to be called “undisputed”. alex perera And Cyril Gane Will meet for the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event.
twelve men – no one’s name john jones Or conor mcgregor – won the White House Sweepstakes and You will get an opportunity to showcase your fighting skills in the country’s capital.. ESPN reporters Brett Okamoto, Andreas Hell and Jeff Wagenheim review the lineup and give their early thoughts on the best fights, missed opportunities and what the structure of this historic event tells us about the state of the UFC.
On paper, is this card one of the UFC’s best ever?
Wagenheim: White promised it would be “the biggest fight card ever” and that the UFC CEO should have known better. After all, he was the promoter behind six of the seven UFC events, including three championship bouts. Those were the promotion’s highest-stakes events, and right below them have sat several fight cards with two championships over the years. This event on the South Lawn — with a title fight and an interim title fight between Pereira and Gane to essentially crown the world’s fourth-best heavyweight trophy — doesn’t live up to the high expectations created by White while trying to sell the UFC’s plans.
Okamoto: Not much, but it’s less of a knock on this card and more of a nod to the great history of the cards that came before it. Let’s be honest, it can’t happen every time there’s a big moment in sports. Always Compete with all the other great moments that have come before it. Over the past 30-plus years there have been many better lineups with bigger headlines, bigger storylines and more depth from top to bottom. But this does not mean that this card is bad.
Topuria at the top is excellent. He’s been out of the mix for a minute, so it’s easy to forget exactly how the fire started That was last summer when he got knocked out Charles Oliveira And became a two-weight champion. Sure, Jones or McGregor would have been a bigger headliner, but neither of them are close to the fighter that Topuria is right now. If Tom Aspinall Had he not been injured and Perera was challenging for the undisputed title, it would have added a lot. As things stand in the MMA landscape, the card is strong and features an American underdog in the main event, which seems appropriate.
Hell: The slate is great, and maybe even above average, but the reveal felt weak. There aren’t any surprise fights that people are expecting (Islam Makhachev Versus Topuria; McGregor vs. michael chandler; Jones vs. Perera, etc.). Instead, the card is full of solid, but unspectacular, matchups. Don’t get me wrong, there are some interesting matchups, but this one doesn’t even belong in the top 10 UFC events of 2020.
What does the makeup of the card tell you about the state of the UFC?
Wagenheim: The cupboard isn’t empty, but if the UFC hopes to grow beyond a specific sport, it could definitely use some bright lightbulbs shining inside there. When your biggest star is a guy who hasn’t fought in five years (McGregor), your second biggest star is coming out of retirement in a different promotion (Ronda Rousey) and your third biggest boss is someone don’t trust the headline This White House Show (Jones), you are not ready to enter the mainstream. There are many extremely talented fighters in the UFC, some of whom are on this card, but the general sporting public knows practically none of them.
Okamoto: The UFC needs a few stars, but we’ve known that for some time. The UFC isn’t producing stars like it used to and I don’t think that will change. For one thing, the UFC schedule features an average of 40-45 events per year, constantly competing for our attention for nearly a decade. Filling a 14-fight card with different names every week hurts the promotion’s star-making ability, but its valuation as a business has never been higher. It has proved that it does not need to depend on individual stars to be successful.
Which matchup is most impressive?
Okamoto: Must go with the main event. It’s tempting to say otherwise and try to think outside the box, but right now, Topuria is one of the few mega superstars that could be on the UFC’s roster. His combination of fighting style and charisma (and undefeated record) is rare indeed. If he wins this fight in spectacular style against the backdrop of the US White House, he will have the opportunity to gain many new fans. The next step for Topuria after the win could be to move up to challenge Makhachev, which would be the UFC’s biggest fight, possibly by the end of the year. And on the other hand, Gaethje, the American underdog, in his third and final shot at an undisputed belt? The main event is easily the most impressive match.
Hell: Perera vs Gane, so far. Pereira may not be fighting Jones, but he is competing for an unprecedented third title in a third weight class. It may not be the undisputed crown, but Pereira’s move from middleweight to light heavyweight and heavyweight to capture his third world title is going to make history. “Potan” is already a star, but now he’s on his way to becoming a legend.
Which matchup will steal the show?
Okamoto: mauricio rafi vs. Michael Chandler. no brainer. Say what you want about Chandler’s recent record, it’s entertaining. He is completely energetic, no breaks, even at times he is at a loss. Rafi is one of the most beautiful fighters to watch in the game right now. He is the embodiment of martial “art”. Chandler will go straight to it and let the chips fall where they may. As long as this continues, shelling will continue.
Wagenheim: As always, my rule is that if Gaethje is on the fight card, his fight is automatically the No. 1 attraction. That he faces Topuria, ranked No. 2 in ESPN’s pound-for-pound top 10, makes it clear fight. But if we’re being technical and “steal the show” means dominating the headliners, I guess I’d point to the co-mains, which include ESPN’s pound-for-pound No. 2, Pereira. His opponent, Gane, isn’t exactly Mr. Excitement, but he’s not going to wrestle Pereira, so we’ll get to see “Poton” in his natural element.
Which matchups aren’t on the card that should be?
Hell: Women’s title fight. the obvious answer is kayla harrison versus Amanda NunesBut neck surgery has put women’s bantamweight champion Harrison in danger for the foreseeable future. But the UFC couldn’t find a single fight on this card to highlight the women of MMA? No mackenzie dern Strawweight Championship defense against zhang weili Or Valentina Shevchenko Flyweight defense is truly a missed opportunity.
Okamoto: paddy pimblett versus Arman Tsarukyan. Do you know the one thing missing from this card? Drama. Who will go after it and cause a stir at the fight week news conference? Who will tell the story of bad blood to fans (old and new)? Pimblett and Tsarukyan are two of the most entertaining fighters in the game right now, outside of competition. If the UFC had pitted them against each other as a third fight on the main card, they would have attacked each other, and he would have taken shots at Topuria. And they would have bolstered the main event as two top-tier lightweights who could step in if something were to happen to either Topuria or Gaethje.
Wagenheim: Honestly, I’m on board with what the UFC has planned for Washington. There are bigger fights, but they take place in a different capital – the fight capital of Las Vegas – and a more suitable venue for a grand spectacle of fights: Madison Square Garden in New York. The White House is the center of pomp and circumstance and that’s what this pageant is all about.
