UFC President Dana White put together one of the most impressive sporting events in history. Dana was able to get President Donald Trump’s permission to host a UFC event at the White House, a task that felt near impossible when it was first proposed. Fast forward to June 14th, and history was made. The UFC put together one of the greatest fight cards to date, and it exceeded expectations. Diehard fans like myself couldn’t be happier.

As someone who watches UFC every single weekend, this was insanity. The fight card featured only seven fights compared to its normal thirteen or fourteen. But, all seven of these fights ended in a knockout. This marked the first time that every fight on the card ended in a finish. This was the perfect opportunity to get new viewers interested in the sport. 

Starting off the night, we had a banger between featherweights Diego Lopes and Steve Garcia. This matchup was exactly what I predicted: fireworks. Round 1 started and it was the underdog, Steve Garcia, who looked like the sharper fighter. He was landing crisp jabs and keeping his distance instead of engaging in a firefight with the dangerous Brazilian, Lopes. It looked like Garcia was going to pull it off heading into Round 2, but this was exactly what Lopes wanted. After losing round 1, Diego Lopes decided it was time to stand and bang. They both stood in the pocket and traded blows, but Lopes had the better exchanges and dropped Steve Garcia, before finishing him off with a brutal TKO due to ground strikes. After that performance, Lopes looks to get a potential title rematch against Alexander Volkanovski in the near future.

The second fight of the night featured two Americans, Bo Nickal and Kyle Daukaus. This was a weird matchup from the beginning, it almost felt as if they were throwing Bo a bone. It turned out to be true, as Bo Nickal made light work of Daukaus and knocked him out in Round 1. Not much to say about this one. It was a good performance from Bo but an awful one from Kyle. Let’s move on.

The third fight was once again, another head scratcher. You had the red-hot prospect Mauricio Ruffy taking on the aging Michael Chandler. The fight went exactly how it was expected. Ruffy  laid a beatdown on the 41-year old Chandler, knocking him out in just the first round. As for Mauricio Ruffy, he is looking incredible ever since his loss to Benoit St. Denis, which was crucial for his development. For Michael Chandler, it was a great career, but it’s time to hang up the gloves as he now has just one win over his last five fights.

The next fight was at Heavyweight between rising star Josh Hokit and UFC Legend Derrick Lewis, and the lopsided trend continued. The matchmaking for this card was not the best, and Dana White could have put together much better matchups. Josh Hokit has been on an absolute tear since entering the UFC last year. Hokit’s record was 9-0 heading into this fight where he was coming off his best performance yet over No. 4-ranked Curtis Blaydes back in April. On the opposite side of the spectrum, you have the 41-year old legend Derrick Lewis coming off one of his worst performances yet. It was a recipe for disaster. Josh Hokit embarrassed Lewis on the White House lawn in front of millions of fans across the globe. It was like Lewis did not even attempt to show up, and he was knocked out in Round 2. Hokit looks like the real deal and he should face off against Alex Pereira in his next fight.

The Suga Show is back. UFC fan favorite Sean O’Malley took on the Canadian, Aiemann Zahabi in a battle for pride. Sean knew he could not let a Canadian beat him on the White House soil and took care of business. Zahabi looked good in Round 1, as he kept his distance and was landing effective leg kicks at range while avoiding getting hit by anything major from Sean. But unfortunately for Zahabi, all it takes is one clean punch from O’Malley, and it’s over. Sean would end up landing a beautiful straight right hand to Zahabi’s jaw which knocked him clean out in Round 2. It was an incredible performance by the American O’Malley, who has had a career resurgence in 2026. 

In our co-main event of the evening, we had Alex Pereira taking on Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight championship belt. Pereira was looking to become the first ever three-division champion in UFC history, but Ciryl Gane had other plans. In Round 2, Gane stunned UFC fans by putting together a beatdown of Pereira, landing a series of 15 to 20 shots in a row which ended up knocking him out. It was a vicious left hook by Gane which forced referee Herb Dean to waive off the fight. This was an absolutely beautiful performance by Gane, he ran through Pereira like he was nothing. It is only right now that we run back the rematch between heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall and interim champion Ciryl Gane at some point in 2026. As for what’s next for Alex, he should fight Josh Hokit like I previously discussed. It makes the most sense.

And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for, we had the most feared fighter in the UFC and current lightweight champion, Ilia Topuria, taking on interim champion Justin Gaethje in the main event of the evening. Coming into this fight, the MMA world gave the future Hall of Famer Justin Gaethje almost zero chance to win due to the incredible 17-0 record of Topuria, who was coming off of three iconic knockouts in a row over UFC legends Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira. It seemed like Ilia would never lose again and was set up for total domination of the lightweight division for years to come. However, Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje had other plans. Justin went on to have the most impressive performance of his illustrious career and shocked the world. He became the first fighter to physically and mentally break Topuria. It did not start out well for Gaethje, as the first two rounds were in Topuria’s favor after he dropped Gaethje with vicious body shots against the cage in Round 2. It seemed as if that would be the end for Justin Gaethje and that he would be knocked out in Round 3, but Justin miraculously looked like the fresher fighter afterwards. In Round 3, Gaethje outstruck Topuria by 21 significant strikes. Topuria’s face was swelling like a balloon and showing severe damage. Topuria was slowly breaking down and losing his vision which left opportunities open for Gaethje to exploit. Justin continued to land crisp straight jabs and powerful overhand rights, which ultimately forced Ilia to quit on the stool. 

At the end of Round 4, Ilia’s corner decided to throw in the towel, and Justin Gaethje became the new lightweight champion.It had been a long time coming for Justin, as this was now his third time fighting for the belt in his career. At 37 years old, it looked like this would be his last chance to pull it off, and he did. Justin Gaethje has been my favorite fighter of all time for years now, and to see him finally win undisputed gold in that fashion was beautiful. As for what’s next for Ilia Topuria, I’d say he should face off against Paddy Pimblett due to the previous history they have, while Justin should defend his belt against Arman Tsarukyan, perhaps in December or early 2027.