Justin Gaethje stuns Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250

For all of the surrounding speculation and controversy, it's hard to imagine UFC's Freedom 250 card at the White House could have gone any better than it did on Sunday night in terms of the action in the Octagon.

In one of the most shocking upsets in UFC history, Justin Gaethje defeated Ilia Topuria to win the lightweight championship and cap UFC Freedom 250 in Washington. Topuria's corner stopped the fight at the end of the fourth round.

Gaethje (28-5) put together a stunningly dominant performance, battering a fighter in Topuria (17-1) who was widely considered the sport's pound-for-pound best. The fight was nearly stopped by the doctor between the third and fourth rounds on account of severe swelling in Topuria's eyes. The ultimately decisive blow was a knee to the rib cage at the end of the fourth round that left Topuria unable to go out for the fifth round.

To put the upset into context, many predicted that Gaethje would get knocked out in the first round. Not only did Gaethje set the tone early in the fight unlike any of Topuria's recent legendary opponents, but he never relinquished it. The American had Topuria, from the nation of Georgia, in danger for the entirety of the fight -- even after Topuria seemingly had Gaethje where he wanted him in Round 2.

"When he didn't get the finish at the end of the second round, I think it really took his spirit," Gaethje said. "I said it in the press conference leading up. I was like, he really backed himself into a corner saying he's going to be so dominant. When we go to the second round, you're going to be like, 'What the (expletive)?' When we go to the third round, you're going to be like, 'What the (expletive)?' And, you know, that's what I did tonight."

At times during the afternoon, it felt as if the worst-case scenario would unfold in terms of weather and outdoor fighting conditions. The rain forecast looked ominous at best, and concerns surrounding humidity and other natural factors in the Octagon gave way to concern that fighters wouldn't find enough footing to reliably hunt for knockouts.

Considering six of the seven fights ended in a first- or second-round KO/TKO, that was clearly not the case. Beyond that, it was also the first card in UFC history where every single fight ended by KO/TKO.

"We were sweating the storm all day," UFC CEO Dana White said. "It's beautiful all day, and then it's looking like from 6 to 9, there's going to be a storm. And what, this is crazy, but the storm literally split and went around the White House. The breeze was perfect. I mean, just everything. You couldn't have had a better night. It was absolutely perfect. Just enough wind to keep the bugs off us. I mean, (everything) that I was worried about played out perfectly."

All in all, the spectacle is going to be considered perhaps the greatest success in the history of the UFC, even with all of the controversy and perhaps deserved criticism of the event itself. Had the fights been terrible and Mother Nature not cooperated, it would have been a different story.

But the fight card was among the best in the sport's history, and Gaethje's triumph instantly stands among the sport's best moments. It simply could not have been written any better for White and company.

Frenchman Ciryl Gane earned the UFC interim heavyweight title for the second time, spoiling Alex Pereira's attempt at becoming the first three-division champion in UFC history with a stunning finish at 1:27 in the second round.

Gane (14-2) hit Pereira (13-4) with a jab that essentially knocked the Brazilian out on his feet, though referee Herb Dean was reluctant to call the fight, which only subjected Pereira to more punishment. It's the definitive moment in the UFC career of Gane, who has often been considered the bridesmaid and never the bride in the heavyweight division until Sunday.

Sean O'Malley backed up his status as America's most popular mixed martial artist, defeating Canadian Aiemann Zahabi with a walk-off knockout at 4:02 of the second round that will be a staple of UFC highlight reels for years to come.

O'Malley, always the showman, gave a military-style salute to the crowd of service members and the president's invitees as Zahabi (14-3) was falling to the canvas. The win puts O'Malley (20-3) firmly back into bantamweight title contention, and he likely will be next up for champion Petr Yan, whom he called out in his post-fight interview.

Josh Hokit continued his rise up the heavyweight division, backing up his viral and controversial fight-week antics by finishing the UFC's knockout king, fellow American Derrick Lewis, with an extended combination of punches at 4:09 of the second round.

It was a dominant performance from Hokit throughout, as he nearly finished Lewis (29-14) multiple times in the first round as well to improve to 10-0.

Mauricio Ruffy of Brazil's esteemed Fighting Nerds registered another statement performance, stopping 40-year-old Michael Chandler at 4:29 in the first round of their lightweight bout. Ruffy (14-2) hurt Chandler (23-11) with a stunning roundhouse kick and ended the fight with a handful of finishing blows to Chandler's head.

The fight could very well be the end of Chandler's UFC career and essentially diminishes any chance the Missouri native had at a future fight against Conor McGregor, whom Chandler was reportedly in line to face with a victory.

Bo Nickal earned his second straight victory, finishing fellow American Kyle Daukaus at 4:34 in the first round in their middleweight fight with a vicious right and a subsequent series of elbows. Nickal (9-1), a former All-American wrestler at Penn State, has now finished three of his six wins in the UFC by KO/TKO and is 6-1 in the UFC since his 2023 debut. Daukaus fell to 17-5.

After an hour-long delay due to rain, Brazilian featherweight Diego Lopes knocked out Albuquerque's Steve Garcia with an explosive combination of punches at 2:42 in the second round. It was an impressive come-from-behind effort by Lopes (28-8), who was unquestionably losing the featherweight fight before Garcia (19-6) made the decision to trade punches with him.

--Field Level Media

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This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 1:43 AM.