Gaethje stuns Topuria for UFC title at White House
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Justin Gaethje defeated Ilia Topuria via TKO corner stoppage at the end of Round 4 to win the undisputed UFC lightweight title in the main event of UFC Freedom 250.
- The card was the first UFC event staged on the White House South Lawn, with President Donald Trump and over 4,000 fans in attendance plus an estimated 80,000 on The Ellipse; the card was delayed 45 minutes by weather.
- Gaethje became the oldest fighter to win a title fight at 155 pounds or below at 37 years, 212 days, breaking Alexander Volkanovski's previous record.
- Every bout on the seven-fight card ended in a knockout — a first in UFC history — with the event staged under a 92-foot-high structure built for the occasion and dubbed "the claw."
- Topuria entered undefeated with consecutive knockouts of Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Charles Oliveira and was attempting to become the first UFC fighter to defend world titles in two weight classes.
- Gaethje had previously lost undisputed title bids to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2020 and Oliveira in 2022, then earned this third crack at undisputed gold with a January interim title decision over Paddy Pimblett.
- At the stoppage all three judges had Gaethje ahead 39-37; both fighters landed 91 significant strikes, but the accumulation of uppercuts and right hands left Topuria virtually blinded and bleeding before his corner waved it off.
Why it matters: At 37, Gaethje completes a redemption arc after two prior failed undisputed title bids (Khabib, Oliveira), becoming the oldest 155-lb title fight winner in UFC history. The upset ends Topuria's undefeated run and his bid to be the first UFC fighter to defend world titles in two weight classes.
