The UFC really held an event on the White House lawn.
On Sunday, UFC Freedom 250 took place on the South Lawn of the White House, and Justin Gaethje added the crown jewel to his Hall of Fame career, scoring a massive upset over Ilia Topuria in the main event. It was the capstone to the most unique evening in MMA history, so let’s talk about everything that happened.
1. Did UFC White House live up to the hype?
Heck: If you say no, you’re just flat-out lying. Don’t do that!
Lee: Big time! An unquestionably memorable card for mostly positive reasons, and one of the all-time great show closers.
Meshew: Yes and no? The event is one the MMA world will talk about forever, and if you went into this with high expectations, I suspect you were thrilled. But outside of the MMA bubble, I’m not sure if this resonated positively, and if you weren’t an American fan, I have no idea if all the America-ness of it was cool or crass.
2. Where does Justin Gaethje’s win rank among the all-time upsets?
Heck: It’s on the Mount Rushmore with Matt Serra, Julianna Peña, and Sean Strickland, but more importantly, this truly was Gaethje’s Miracle on Ice moment.
I still am in awe about what I witnessed in this fight, a true all-time war that turned into a horrific beatdown, and an unforgettable moment for Gaethje. This win solidifies him as not just the most exciting fighter in UFC history, but he’s officially entered all-time greatness territory by doing the one thing that’s eluded him his entire career.
Also, Gaethje may have given Topuria the greatest gifts he could’ve given him — one, a much-needed humbling, and two, we got to see Topuria go through the fire a bit, and he did his best to battle through it with a seriously broken, well, FACE.
Lee: Not No. 1, but it’s the first one that will come up in most fans’ minds for the next five years at least.
Upset conversations tend to be generational, with names like Matt Serra, Holly Holm, Michael Bisping, Sean Strickland, and Fabricio Werdum typically dominating the conversation, depending on who you ask and when you ask them. For me, nothing will ever beat Serra knocking out GSP, mainly because the circumstances of that matchup even happening can never be replicated, but in modern MMA, Gaethje’s triumph is about as good as it gets.
It’s the Miracle on the Mat.
Meshew: A lot of people aren’t going to agree with me, but when you consider everything, I think it’s the biggest upset of all-time.
From an odds standpoint, this is certainly not the biggest, as Gaethje was a huge dog, but not to the level of Holly Holm against Ronda Rousey, or Matt Serra against George St-Pierre. And from long-lasting historical standpoint, this is probably not as significant as Holm functionally ending Ronda Rousey, and ushering in the slow decline of women’s MMA in the UFC.
But there are a couple of factors that Gaethje has that those two upsets lack. First, there is the stage. Serra and Holm pulled off monster upsets on big, pay-per-view stages, but, frankly, generic numbered UFC cards don’t quite rate against the FREAKING WHITE HOUSE. This entire card will be one of the most-discussed events for years on end, both inside and outside of MMA circles, and Gaethje was the star of it. And an American star pulling off an all-time upset at the White House is not quite Miracle on Ice, but it’s up there.
And then you add in the fact that Gaethje is a beloved figure. Nobody really cared much about Holly Holm or Matt Serra when they pulled off their upsets. That is not the case with Gaethje. “The Highlight” is in that Michael Bisping tier of fighter, where never winning an undisputed belt would have been a blemish on his career, but not an irreparable stain. He was still going in the Hall of Fame (several times over) and still the most exciting fighter to ever live. He just never quite got the ultimate prize.
Well, no longer. To paraphrase Dr. Ian Malcolm, the crazy son of a bitch did it.
3. Is anyone ever going to become a three-division world champion in the UFC?
Heck: I’m sure it will happen someday, but not anytime soon. There are weight classes for a reason, and I feel like we can stop the three-division talk for the foreseeable future. Pereira got badly finished by Gane, and Topuria may never be the same after getting battered by Topuria.
Now, if we can just keep champions in their divisions defending over and over and over again forever, nothing would make me happier.
Lee: Yes, it’s inevitable, especially in this current era of title dilution. There was a time when becoming a two-division UFC champion was this rare, special thing, and now we have almost a dozen of them on record. It’s only a matter of time until someone with the perfect body type and skill set finds that magical formula with the right run of opponents and pulls it off. Maybe it will even be someone on the women’s side, where there’s just a 20-pound difference between strawweight and bantamweight (though Zhang Weili found out the hard way how much of a disadvantage just 10 pounds on the scale can be).
Or maybe Islam Makhachev just jumps up to middleweight next year and does the damn thing.
Meshew: Once again, I’m taking the opposite line: no. It will never happen in the UFC. At least, not while these are the weight classes. I think there are a very limited number of fighters who could have done it had they gotten the chance in a previous era, but as the sport continues to improve, it’s a nearly impossible task.
Look at boxing. In the sweet science, you basically have to win titles in multiple weight classes to be considered a legitimately great fighter, but the weight classes are substantially different. Most multi-division champions won belts in tweener divisions (welterweight and junior welterweight, etc), and did so for a few of the belts, not a unified title.
Only two boxers in history have been undisputed champions across three weight classes: Henry Armstrong and Bud Crawford. Armstrong did it in three of the full-on weight classes, while Bud did it in light-welterweight, welterweight, and super middleweight. And this is a sport that’s well over 100 years old. It’s not happening.
4. Aside from Gaethje, who was the biggest winner of UFC White House?
Heck: I’m taking the low-hanging fruit, it’s Ciryl Gane, and it’s not particularly close.
This was one of those fights where, with a deep dive, it became quite fascinating on paper. The more I watched of both guys, the more I felt like this was a pretty damn good matchup for Gane on paper. I certainly didn’t expect Gane to do THAT in a massive spot against Pereira, but he did it, and it was so impressive.
My other big takeaway is that this version of Gane, should he beat Aspinall in the rematch (and I’ll pick him to do so after what I saw on Sunday night), “Bon Gamin” might mess around and be heavyweight champ for a really, really long time.
Lee: UFC production team: 1. Mother Nature: 0
Arguably, the biggest storyline of the week revolved around the inclement weather that threatened to delay and possibly even outright cancel Sunday’s event, with Dana White and lead producer Craig Borsari having to answer numerous questions about what the UFC’s contingency plans were if hellfire and brimstone rained down from the heavens. And what if someone swallowed a bug???
In the end, White and co. benefited from miraculously good conditions, with the UFC CEO saying afterwards it was as if the looming storm literally split in half and avoided their $60 million setup. And hey, lucky or not, proper preparation prevents poor performance.
Meshew: The band was pretty cool, but I think this picture says more than I could ever put into words.
5. Who was the biggest loser at UFC White House?
Heck: It’s Derrick Lewis, unfortunately.
Look, I don’t believe many expected Lewis to win here, but there certainly appeared to be a chance for him to win, and that’s what the MMA masses were hoping for. Maybe Lewis can land one giant lunchbox on an over-aggressive Josh Hokit and become a hero. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the midway point of Round 1, the story had already been written.
Lewis has had one amazing career. A fantastic story, fan-favorite, two-time title fight competitor, and done so with a limited skill set. “The Black Beast” is one of the great overachievers in the sport, with very few having anything negative to say about him. But it was tough to watch Lewis in there with Hokit and Waldo Cortes-Acosta in January. Maybe we find one or two age-appropriate matchups for funsies, but it doesn’t appear like Lewis will be put in many more big spots in his UFC career.
Lee: Josh Hokit, you were so close to having a moment.
Already entrenched in the top 5 of the anemic heavyweight division, Hokit had a golden opportunity to further boost his profile with a favorable matchup against Derrick Lewis. He took care of business in the cage, beating Lewis handily, then the worst possible thing happened: Hokit was given a microphone.
After a forgettable promo capped off by a callout of Alex Pereira, Hokit then made a senseless and disgusting comment about former First Lady Michelle Obama. Just like that, Hokit made sure the first thing everyone will remember about his UFC White House fight is not that he’s a heavyweight contender, but that he’s a racist (he made a similar comment about WNBA star Brittney Griner. You do the math). I don’t care if he’s just “trolling.” You continually choose racist rhetoric, guess what? You’re a racist.
Even UFC CEO Dana White condemned Hokit, calling his comments “nasty and false.” That’s when you know you messed up. I don’t care how much attention this behavior is getting, Hokit, right now. In the end, it won’t be worth it.
Meshew: Hokit is the right answer, obviously. If you’re gonna be a clown, at least be funny. But he seems incapable of figuring that one out. But to discuss someone else, I’m going to mention Ilia Topuria, though with a substantial caveat.
Heading into this event, Topuria was the chosen one. The comparisons to Conor McGregor ran rampant, and the promotion was behind him in a huge way. He did mountains of media, had an HBO show, and talked ceaseless piles of shit about his greatness and the ill-fated future for Gaethje. To say he was arrogant is an understatement. Had he won, it would have only grown. Topuria very likely would have gotten a shot to become a three-division world champion, and maybe cross over for massive boxing paydays down the line. But then they fought.
Topuria didn’t just lose; he got mashed up. His face and body got mashed to such a pulp that he quit on the stool. That’s a stark contrast to how he carried himself before the fight, and it will leave a lasting impression on the fan base. It’s already started as Topuria haters have come out of the woodwork to dunk on him for this L. Given the manner of it and what he could have won, Topuria is the only correct choice for a loser.
That being said, it’s not all bad. I’ve been as vocal a Topuria hater as any, but I did not leave Sunday thinking he was overrated or anything like that. I thought he showed tremendous heart and toughness to fight on despite being so mangled (I take absolutely nothing away from quitting on the stool; he was finished), and, unlike many fighters in similar positions, he has faced the music head-on. Topuria didn’t come out on Monday and say, “I dared to be great.” He owned up to talking shit and getting his ass beat over it.
Topuria is still young and great. This is the sort of loss that every fighter has to take to learn their limits. That it came at this level of the sport is just a testament to his ability. He’ll be back, and in the long run, this might end up being good for him.
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