PREVIEW: Poatan, Topuria fired up for UFC Freedom 250 mega card

Billed as the most historic sporting event in American history by UFC President Dana White, Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira and Ilia Topuria will look to bring combat sports to a standstill when they feature on the White House lawn on Monday morning.

Main-card set to commence 02:00am (CAT, GMT+2).

The UFC Freedom 250 card will be the first ever sporting spectacle hosted at the White House, while it will also mark the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Ilia Topuria (17-0-0) and Justin Gaethje (27-5-0) will headline the event as two highly popular figures in the Lightweight division. With Topuria coming in as an unbeaten double weight class champion, Gaethje is known as one of the most feared fighters in the world having gotten the better of names such as Paddy Pimblett, Dustin Poirier and Tony Ferguson.

Topuria, known as ‘El Matador’, recorded high-profile knockout wins over Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski in his last three fights amid title success in both the Featherweight and Lightweight classes.

The Georgian-Spanish fighter thus promised to do the same against Gaethje in a scathing verbal attack on the man known as ‘The Highlight’.

“You’re not going to be able to do any f––ng thing,” Topuria said.

“There’s a reason I’m the world champion. I talk and I prove it. I talk the talk and I walk the walk. I won the world title three times.

“I’m the king on this screen right now. I’m the mother––ng champion, not you. So shut the f–k up. I’m going to put him to sleep in the first round. Don’t blink. Because it’s going to be very quick.”

In the co-main event, Pereira is aiming to become the first UFC fighter to claim belts in three weight divisions when he takes on Ciryl Gane for the Interim Heavyweight title.

As a former Middleweight and Light Heavyweight champion, Pereira (13-3-0) powered his way to five knockout victories in his last six fights. Gane (13-2-0, 1NC) is unbeaten in his last two fights, while his last fight with Heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall at UFC321 was rendered as a no contest owing to a eye poke in the first round.

With legendary status in view, Poatan expressed that he is already focused on fights beyond UFC Freedom 250, given that he could well be approaching the latter stage of his career.

“I’m a guy that, I want to get ready, I want to fight somebody as soon as possible,” the Brazilian said.

“I want to get another fight as soon as possible. I want to make sure I finish the year. Again, I’m 38 years old. I ain’t got time to lose. So I need to fight.”

The main card will also feature the colorful Sean O’Malley, who will once again hope to become a top contender in the Bantamweight division when he takes on Aiemann Zahabi before the Co-main event.

In a separate Heavyweight clash, fan favourite Derrick Lewis will face the undefeated Josh Hokit, who saw off Denzel Freeman and Curtis Blaydes in his last two fights. Much like that of O’Malley and Lewis, Hokit is known for his outspoken demeanour as a favourite to US President Donald Trump.

UFC FREEDOM 250 MAIN CARD

Ilia Topuria v Justin Gaethje (Lightweight – Main event)

Alex Pereira v Ciryl Gane (Heavyweight – Co-main)

Sean O’Malley v Aimann Zahabi (Bantamweight)

Josh Hokit v Derrick Lewis (Heavyweight)

Mauricio Ruffy v Micheal Chandler (Lightweight)

Bo Nickal v Kyle Daukaus (Middleweight)

Diego Lopes v Steve Garcia (Featherweight)