When the UFC Freedom 250 fight card was revealed in March, opinions abounded about the quality and intrigue given Dana White’s promise of “the baddest card of all time.”
Neither of the promotion’s two biggest draws, Conor McGregor nor Jon Jones, were included despite their repeated calls to be. There wasn’t a champion-vs.-champion superfight either.
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Also missing? No women.
“There was supposed to be women on the card,” Dana White said in an interview with Time magazine. “I wanted women on the card. It just didn’t work out that way.”
What White and UFC matchmakers put together for the June 14 fight night on the South Lawn of the White House was two championship fights atop the bill – Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje in a lightweight title unifier and Ciryl Gane vs. Alex Pereira for the interim heavyweight title – with an assortment of matchups behind it: Sean O’Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi, Michael Chandler vs. Mauricio Ruffy, Kyle Daukaus vs. Bo Nickal, and Steve Garcia vs. Diego Lopes. The UFC would later add Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis at the request of President Trump.
More: What will the White House bathroom situation be like at UFC Freedom 250?
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While the UFC Freedom 250 card is widely considered to be high quality by the standards of a normal numbered veent, it didn’t exactly deliver on the hype that was expected for a one-of-a-kind spectacular. And while the list of matchups seems random with no discernible theme, such as USA vs. the world, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, White assures particular thought went into the fighters ultimately chosen for the card.
“The only thing I really cared about going into this card was having people I could depend on being on the card, fighters that you know,” White said. “They’re gonna deal with levels of stress and weird things that they’re not used to. For instance, the night of the fight when they show up, they’re gonna have to go through crazy security. We’re gonna be inside rooms at the White House. They’re used to going to arenas with rooms that are laid out for them and all this.
“So, you need not only the best fights you could possibly make because they mean something and they matter in our ecosystem. You also need fighters you could trust that are gonna show up and deliver, and mentally and emotionally be able to deal with the different atmosphere they’re gonna be in that night. And that is the card that we built.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dana White reveals only thing that mattered about UFC White House card
