UFC Freedom 250 takes place tonight at the White House in Washington. In the main event, Ilia Topuria defends the lightweight title against interim champ Justin Gaethje. theScore’s Nick Baldwin will provide live results and analysis beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

👊 Bet on UFC White House card with theScore Bet here

Eleven months after President Donald Trump said he wanted to hold a UFC event at the White House, it’s finally here. The MMA promotion is celebrating the United States’ impending 250th anniversary with a blockbuster card on the South Lawn.

UFC Freedom 250 features two title fights at the top of the card, including Topuria’s lightweight unification bout against Gaethje. The undefeated Georgian-Spaniard knocked out Charles Oliveira to win the vacant 155-pound title at UFC 317 last June, but he has been out of action since then due to personal issues. Topuria, a former featherweight champion, holds a 17-0 professional record with 15 finishes.

In Topuria’s absence, Gaethje claimed the interim title with a unanimous decision win over Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324 in January. Gaethje, nicknamed “The Highlight” because of his all-action style, is riding a two-fight winning streak and is 4-1 in his last five appearances. Though the 37-year-old is at the tail-end of his career, he’s looking to add an undisputed UFC championship to his resume before calling it quits.

In the co-main event of UFC Freedom 250, former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira is moving up to heavyweight for the first time in his career to face Ciryl Gane for the interim title. With a victory, Pereira will become the first fighter in promotion history to win titles in three different weight classes.

Weather forecast is … not great ⛈️😬

There are severe thunderstorm warnings in the Washington area, which poses a big threat to the event. The National Weather Service is forecasting a 72% chance of rain at 8 p.m. ET and a 62% chance at 9 p.m.

The Weather Channel said earlier today that UFC Freedom 250 “is facing a chaotic weather setup,” with a chance of “heavy downpours and wind gusts up to 34 mph.”

UFC CEO Dana White has remained adamant that the event will occur as planned. However, the promotion announced that live event coverage will begin at 8 p.m., which suggests the first fight will start a little later than anticipated.

Previewing UFC Freedom 250 Matt Cohen / theScoreDiving into Topuria-Gaethje

Tale of the tape

Topuria
Gaethje

Country
Georgia
USA

Age
29
37

Height
5-7
5-11

Reach
69 in
70 in

Record
17-0
27-5

Betting odds

Fighter
Odds

Topuria
-450

Gaethje
+340

Here’s a look at the full UFC Freedom 250 fight card:

Main card (Paramount+ at 8 p.m. ET)
Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje
Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane
Sean O’Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi
Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis
Mauricio Ruffy vs. Michael Chandler
Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus
Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia
                                                               

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