One shove was all it took to remind the UFC and fight fans that the bad blood between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje remains real.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Topuria puts his UFC lightweight championship on the line for the first time at UFC Freedom 250 after winning the vacant title last year with a stunning first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira. Against the interim champion Gaethje, who earned his spot through brilliant, back-to-back wins over Rafael Fiziev and Paddy Pimblett, Topuria has found a natural rival.<\/p>\n
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The two have gone back-and-forth with verbal jabs and nasty shots<\/a> in the lead-up to their unification fight on the White House’s South Lawn in Washington. And nothing changed at the final media event Friday in front of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.<\/p>\n Topuria even laid a hand on Gaethje, shoving the American during a faceoff \u2014 much to UFC boss Dana White’s dismay.<\/p>\n After security separated the 155-pounders, Gaethje gestured with his hands and said, “Look at this beautiful view, and you want to act like a f***ing animal?”<\/p>\n “You’re an emotional little animal,” Gaethje repeated.<\/p>\n Speaking later on the Paramount+ broadcast, Topuria explained why he pushed Gaethje.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n “I just told him don’t come closer, and he told me, like, ‘What, you’re going to punch me?’ And I was, like, ‘Yeah.’ And he came closer,” the champ said.<\/p>\n “I had to push him, because if I punch him, he’s not going to be able to show up for the fight.”<\/p>\n White’s reaction suggested he didn’t see the shove coming, but the way they’d gone at each other’s throats throughout the promotion, it was never really out of the question.<\/p>\n The fight, after all, has been a long time coming.<\/p>\n Topuria is one of the UFC’s bona fide stars for the way in which he’s bludgeoned the competition across two weight classes, knocking out Alexander Volkanovski to win the UFC featherweight title before repeating the favor against Max Holloway in a 2024 Fighter of the Year winning run<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n In 2025, the Spanish-Georgian moved up to lightweight, won the title there too, but put his career on hiatus due to marital issues with his now ex-wife.<\/p>\n That led to Gaethje’s own claim to the throne as the UFC created an interim belt in the division, which the 37-year-old won with ease by dominating Pimblett in a career-best win in January<\/a> that put him on a collision course with Topuria.<\/p>\n While the rivalry began with respect, it did not take long for tempers to flare.<\/p>\n Gaethje previously called Topuria a “gimmick” and made light of his opponent’s divorce, remarking: “I understand why anybody would leave him.”<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n This “crossed a line,” according to Topuria<\/a>. “What happened between my ex-wife and me is our business,” Topuria said earlier this week. “We may no longer be together but she is the mother of my daughter. To everyone insulting her or speaking about things they know nothing about, show some respect.”<\/p>\n Gaethje remained unapologetic, later calling Topuria an “insufferable little b**** boy,”<\/a> leading to Topuria pledging “to put [Gaethje] to sleep in the first round”<\/a> when they finally get their hands on one another Sunday.<\/p>\n On Friday, they refused to concede any ground to one another, even quarreling over who has the better coach.<\/p>\n “You’re going to be alone in that Octagon with me,” Topuria said to Gaethje. “No one is going to be helping you.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n “You’re not even the world champion,” he added. “What makes [your coach] the best?”<\/p>\n Gaethje’s response was simple. “His success,” he said of longtime coach Trevor Wittman. “His accomplishments.”<\/p>\n Topuria argued: “So that makes my coach the best because I won the world title in featherweight division, defended successfully, then moved up in the lightweight division and won the title [there too], so my coach is the best in the world.”<\/p>\n The biggest low blow, though, came not from Gaethje but heavyweight Josh Hokit, who said on the shared stage the reason why he thinks Topuria is “so mad.”<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n