The Octagon landed on the South Lawn of the White House as the UFC took center stage with a special one-off event, UFC Freedom 250, in Washington DC.
Here are our power rankings for the night’s top five biggest winners at UFC Freedom 250.
UFC Freedom 250 Power Rankings
1. Justin Gaethje
There can only be one man in the top spot this week. Justin Gaethje always delivers exciting, fan-friendly performances, but at the White House, “The Highlight” claimed the biggest highlight win of his career as he dethroned the previously undefeated Ilia Topuria to unify the lightweight title.
Gaethje was a sizeable underdog ahead of his bout with Topuria, and in the second round, those odds would only have gotten bigger, as the Spanish champion looked close to finishing Gaethje to register the first defense of his 155-pound title.
But Gaethje is made of stronger stuff, and fought through the pain barrier to eventually turn the tables on Topuria and force his corner to pull him out of the fight after the fourth round.
It meant that Gaethje finally captured undisputed champion status, and secured him a chunky double-bonus payout in the process.
2. Ciryl Gane
France’s Ciryl Gane reunited with the interim heavyweight championship after welcoming former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira to the heavyweight class with a second-round TKO finish.
Much was made of Pereira’s punch power, and whether his knockout touch in MMA gloves would carry up to the heavyweight division. But as the fight progressed, it was Gane who was landing the leather much more frequently, and accurately, as the Frenchman enjoyed a hugely encouraging first round.
Gane then followed up in the second as he connected with big shots on “Poatan” to eventually stop him 87 seconds into the second stanza.
It gave Gane a massive victory, put a championship belt around his waist, and cemented him as the division’s clear number-one contender to face Tom Aspinall when the Englishman returns from double eye surgery later this year.
A title unification bout with Gane, either in the UK, or in Paris, France, seems likely.
3. Josh Hokit
His post-fight comments about Michelle Obama may have been the only real negative on an otherwise incredible night for the UFC, but despite his polarizing approach to interviews and fight promotion, there’s no debating Josh Hokit’s talent inside the Octagon.
Hokit faced knockout artist and former title challenger Derrick Lewis, and calmly picked him apart with strikes before eventually claiming a second-round TKO stoppage. His grappling might need a tune-up – his armbar attempt looked good on camera, but wasn’t applied correctly to force a tap from Lewis – but that aside, Hokit’s performance was nothing short of excellent.
With Pereira losing out to Gane on the same card, and given Hokit’s decision to trash talk “Poatan” throughout the build-up to this event, a matchup between the pair now makes a lot of sense, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the pair matched for a numbered UFC fight card later in the year.
4. Sean O’Malley
Sean O’Malley called his shot, then made it happen. “The Suga Show” spoke in pre-fight interviews about visualizing landing a fight-ending punch, then punctuating a walk-off victory with a salute. Remarkably, that’s exactly how his fight with Aiemann Zahabi panned out.
O’Malley remains one of the UFC’s most exciting fan-favorites, and his win now puts him right back into the championship conversation at 135 pounds. He earned his first shot at the bantamweight title by defeating Petr Yan, and now, with Yan the current champion, O’Malley wants another meeting with “No Mercy” and, after a win like that, he’s right in the mix to get it.
5. Mauricio Ruffy
Brazil’s Mauricio Ruffy has been building his experience and growing his resumé in the UFC as he looks to build himself into a championship contender at 155 pounds, and on Sunday night he made another jump up in class has he defeated former Bellator lightweight champion and former UFC title challenger Michaal Chandler.
Ruffy’s spectacular striking proved too much for Chandler as he connected with a wheel-kick to the head, then followed up with strikes to claim a first-round finish.
Ruffy added to the special occasion by proposing to his girlfriend – apparently she said yes – but in career terms, his victory over Chandler gives Ruffy the chance to face someone higher-ranked next time out.
