Ilia Topuria had no problem getting a little testy at the Oval Office.
The UFC lightweight champion, along with his challenger and interim champion Justin Gaethje and former two-division UFC champion Alex Pereira, paid a visit to the White House and U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday afternoon ahead of their fights at UFC Freedom Fights 250.
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Topuria headlines UFC Freedom Fights 250 – which is an unprecedented UFC event set to go down on June 14 on South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. The event celebrates the U.S. 250th anniversary along with Trump’s 80th birthday.
During the visit, Topuria, who’s Georgian-Spanish, asked Trump why he wanted to see Gaethje face his toughest test. Topuria’s question sparked a little back and forth between himself, Trump and Gaethje. You can watch their interaction in the video below.
Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) hasn’t competed since claiming the vacant lightweight title with a knockout of Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 last June. The 29-year-old took some personal time off to deal with legal issues regarding his ex-wife, and will look to continue his knockout streak after taking out Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Oliveira.Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) will attempt to capture UFC undisputed gold for the third time in his career. He won the interim title for a second time when he handed Paddy Pimblett is first octagon loss at UFC 324 in January. “The Highlight” has won four of his past five fights.
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ilia Topuria sparks brief spat with Donald Trump, Justin Gaethje
