In perhaps the biggest upset in UFC history, Gaethje becomes champion after Topuria’s corner stops the fight.
Published June 15, 2026
American Justin Gaethje turned the tables on Ilia Topuria and won the lightweight UFC title with a shocking victory at the UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House lawn.
On Sunday night, after Topuria (17-1) cruised through a thrilling first two rounds, Gaethje (28-5) stunned the Spaniard with a crunching right hand before leaving his opponent’s face swollen and bloody with a barrage of brutal jabs.
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Topria appeared to be having vision problems and was examined by a doctor before proceeding to the fourth round, but was ruined by a corner kick before the final round in Washington, D.C.
“It’s unbelievable. … We knew we had to get past the first round. His skills are unmatched as a rookie,” Gaethje said.
“But my endurance, tenacity and heart were going to get me through.”
The match headlined the first professional sporting event held at the White House. It was an important part of US President Donald Trump’s 250th anniversary celebrations and was held on his 80th birthday.
In the co-main event, France’s Cyrille Gane dominated Brazil’s Alex Pereira with an impressive second-round knockout victory to become interim UFC heavyweight champion.
Pereira, a former light heavyweight and middleweight champion, was aiming to become the first UFC fighter to win titles in three weight classes after stepping up to heavyweight.
O’Malley defeats Zahavi. Hokit stops Lewis
Sean O’Malley confirmed his status as one of America’s most popular mixed martial artists with a walk-off knockout win over Ayeman Zahavi in a fight that will be a staple on UFC highlight reels for years to come.
Ever the showman, O’Malley gave a military salute to the military and presidential guests in the crowd as Zahavi (14-3) fell to the canvas. With the win, O’Malley (20-3) firmly returns to bantamweight title contention, and is likely to be his next opponent in champion Petr Yan, a name O’Malley mentioned in his post-fight interview.
Josh Hokit continued his rise in the heavyweight division, confirming his viral and controversial fight week antics by finishing off UFC knockouts king Derrick Lewis with an extended punch combination at 4:09 of the second round.
Hokitt had a dominant performance from start to finish, coming close to finishing Lewis (29-14) multiple times in the first round, improving to 10-0.
Respected Brazilian fighter Mauricio Ruffy recorded another impressive performance, stopping 40-year-old Michael Chandler in 4 minutes and 29 seconds in the first round of their lightweight bout. Luffy (14 wins, 2 losses) hurt Chandler (23 wins, 11 losses) with a nice roundhouse kick and then delivered several finishing blows to Chandler’s head to end the match.
This fight could very well be the end of Chandler’s UFC career, effectively ending his chances of facing Conor McGregor, who he reportedly could have faced had he won Sunday’s fight.
At 4 minutes 34 seconds into the first round of their middleweight bout, Bo Nickal finished off fellow American Kyle Daukaus with a powerful right hand followed by a series of elbow strikes, earning him his second straight victory. Nickal (9-1), a former All-American wrestler at Penn State, has three of his six wins in the UFC via KO/TKO and is 6-1 in the UFC since debuting in 2023. Daukaus lost 17-5.
After an hour delay due to rain, Brazilian featherweight Diego Lopez knocked out Albuquerque’s Steve Garcia with an explosive punch combination at 2:42 of the second round.
It was an impressive comeback by Lopez (28-8), who was arguably losing the featherweight fight before Garcia (19-6) decided to trade punches with Lopez.
