One of the most notable events in UFC history will take place Sunday with UFC Freedom 250 from the White House in Washington DC (Paramount+).
Two championship fights will top the card. In the main event, Ilia Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) and Justin Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) will unify lightweight titles, while in the co-main event former two-division champ Alex Pereira (13-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) makes his heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane (13-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) with the interim belt on the line.
For more on the numbers behind the entire seven-fight lineup, check out MMA Junkie’s UFC Freedom 250 pre-event facts below.
Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje
Ilia Topuria
Topuria is one of 11 fighters in UFC history to win titles in two weight classes. Randy Couture, B.J. Penn, Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre, Daniel Cormier, Henry Cejudo, Amanda Nunes, Jon Jones, Islam Makhachev and Pereira accomplished the feat.
Topuria is one of 14 fighters to win an undisputed UFC title with an undefeated record.
Topuria is one of five fighters to hold the undisputed UFC featherweight championship.
Topuria is the only fighter UFC history to win titles in two weight classes with an undefeated record.
Topuria can become the first in UFC history to defend titles in two weight classes with an undefeated record.
Topuria became the first Georgian champion in UFC history with his UFC 298 title win.
Justin Gaethje
Gaethje is the only two-time interim UFC champion in company history.
Gaethje is the only fighter MMA history to win titles in UFC and WSOF.
Gaethje is the only fighter in UFC history to land 100 or more significant strikes in each of his first three promotional appearances.
Gaethje lands 58.5 percent of significant strike attempts in UFC lightweight competition, the third-best rate in divisional history behind Benoit Saint Denis (61.5 percent) and Islam Makhachev (59.5 percent).
Gaethje is the only fighter in UFC history to win at least one fight-night bonus in each of his first seven octagon appearances.
Gaethje has been awarded 15 fight-night bonuses in 15 UFC appearances.
Gaethje’s 15 UFC fight-night bonuses since 2017 are most of any fighter in the company.
Gaethje’s 15 UFC fight-night bonuses for lightweight bouts are tied for most in divisional history.
Gaethje’s 10 Fight of the Night bonuses in UFC competition are tied with Dustin Poirier and Edson Barboza for most in company history.
Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane
Alex Pereira
Pereira is one of 11 fighters in history to win titles in two weight classes.
Pereira can become the first fighter in history to win a version of a UFC title in three weight classes.
Pereira’s eight MMA fights before becoming UFC champion is the second-fewest in modern history behind Brock Lesnar’s four.
Pereira’s 11 MMA fights before becoming a two-division champion are the fewest in company history.
Pereira’s seven UFC fights to become a two-division champion are the fewest in company history.
Pereira is one of five fighters in UFC history to win titles in two weight classes and then have multiple title reigns in one. Jones, Couture, St-Pierre and Nunes also accomplished the feat.
Pereira is one of seven fighters to record three UFC title defenses in a calendar year (2024). Frank Shamrock (1998), Tito Ortiz (2001), Matt Hughes (2002), Liddell (2006), Demetrious Johnson (2013) and Kamaru Usman (2021) have also accomplished the feat.
Pereira holds the record for shortest time between three UFC title defenses at 175 days. Ronda Rousey is in second place at 189 days.
Pereira’s five victories in UFC light heavyweight championship fights are tied with Chuck Liddell for second-most in divisional history behind Jones (14).
Pereira lands 62.1 percent of his significant strike attempts in UFC competition, the third-highest rate in company history behind Alistair Overeem (74.3 percent) and Shara Magomedov (63 percent).
Ciryl Gane
Gane is the only French-born fighter in history to win a version of a UFC title.
Gane is one of 17 fighters in history to win a version of a UFC title with an undefeated record.
Gane can become the second two-time interim champion in UFC history. Gaethje also accomplished the feat.
Gane vs. Tom Aspinall at UFC 321 marked the second UFC championship fight to end in a no contest (Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier at UFC 214). It was the first to be ruled as such inside the cage.
Gane is one of three heavyweights in modern UFC history to start his career 7-0 inside the octagon. Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos also accomplished the feat.
Gane lands 61.7 percent of his significant strike attempts in UFC heavyweight competition, the best rate among active fighters in the division.
Gane defends 60.8 percent of all opponent significant strike attempts in UFC heavyweight competition, the second-best rate among active fighters in the weight class behind Tanner Boser (61 percent).
Gane’s +82 significant strike differential against Derrick Lewis at UFC 265 is the largest margin in a UFC heavyweight title fight.
Sean O’Malley (18-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) is one of nine fighters to hold the undisputed UFC bantamweight championship.
O’Malley is one of four fighters to win a UFC championship after being signed to the promotion through Dana White’s Contender Series. Carlos Ulberg, Jack Della Maddalena and Jamahal Hill also accomplished the feat.
O’Malley landed 230 significant strikes at UFC 299, the single-fight record for a UFC bantamweight championship bout.
O’Malley’s six knockout victories in UFC bantamweight competition are tied for second-most in divisional history behind T.J. Dillashaw (seven).
O’Malley lands 60.8 percent of his significant strike attempts in UFC bantamweight competition, the best rate in divisional history.
O’Malley’s nine fight-night bonuses for UFC bantamweight bouts are most in divisional history.
Aiemann Zahabi’s (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) six-fight UFC winning streak at bantamweight is the longest active streak in the division.
Zahabi has earned six of his eight UFC victories by decision.
Zahabi defends 70.3 percent of all opponent significant strike attempts in UFC bantamweight competition, the highest rate in divisional history.
Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis
Josh Hokit (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) became the first fighter of the $100,000 bonus era to earn Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night honors in his UFC 327 win.
Hokit has earned four fight night bonuses in three UFC appearances.
Hokit and Curtis Blaydes combined for 354 significant strikes landed at UFC 327, the all-time record for a UFC heavyweight fight.
Derrick Lewis (29-13 MMA, 20-11 UFC) competes in his 32nd UFC heavyweight bout, the second-most appearances in divisional history behind Andrei Arlovski (42).
Lewis is one of 13 fighters in history to earn 20 or more UFC victories.
Lewis’ 20 victories in UFC heavyweight competition are second-most in divisional history behind Arlovski (23).
Lewis’ 16 stoppage victories in UFC heavyweight competition are most in divisional history.
Lewis’ 16 stoppage victories in UFC competition are tied with Donald Cerrone for third-most in company history behind Charles Oliveira (21) and Jim Miller (20).
Lewis’ 16 knockout victories in UFC competition are most in company history.
Lewis’ 16 knockout victories in UFC competition stemming from punches are the most in company history.
Lewis’ nine knockouts stemming from ground strikes in UFC competition are most in company history.
Lewis’ 11 knockdowns landed in UFC heavyweight competition are second-most in divisional history behind Junior Dos Santos (14).
Lewis’ eight fight-night bonuses for UFC heavyweight bouts are tied with Stefan Struve for second-most in divisional history behind Stipe Miocic (nine).
Mauricio Ruffy vs. Michael Chandler
Mauricio Ruffy (13-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) has earned 12 of his 13 career victories by stoppage. He’s finished eight of those wins in Round 1.
Ruffy has earned one of 16 knockouts in UFC history stemming from a spinning wheel kick. He accomplished the feat at UFC 313.
Michael Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) is a three-time Bellator lightweight champion.
Chandler is one of four fighters in Bellator/UFC/WEC/PRIDE/Strikeforce history with three title reigns in a single weight class. Couture, Douglas Lima and Patricio Freire also accomplished the feat.
Chandler is one of eight fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a front kick to the face. He accomplished the feat vs. Tony Ferguson at UFC 274.
Chandler is one of eight fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a front kick to the head. He accomplished the feat vs. Ferguson at UFC 274.
Chandler has been awarded a fight-night bonus in five of his seven UFC appearances.
Kyle Daukaus (17-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) is 2-0 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in August 2025.
Diego Lopes (27-8 MMA, 6-3 UFC) has earned 22 of his 26 career victories by stoppage. That includes four of his six UFC wins.
Lopes has been awarded four UFC fight night bonuses in his past three fights. He’s received Fight of the Night honors in three consecutive bouts.
Steve Garcia’s (19-5 MMA, 8-2 UFC) six-fight UFC winning streak at featherweight is the second-longest active streak in the division behind Movsar Evloev (nine).
Garcia’s average fight time of 5:13 in UFC featherweight competition is the second-shortest in divisional history behind Mike De La Torre (4:25).
Garcia’s five-fight UFC knockout streak, ended at UFC on ESPN 70, is tied for fourth-longest in company history behind Chuck Liddell (seven), Don Frye (six) and Sergei Pavlovich (six).
Garcia averages 3.36 knockdowns per 15 minutes of fighting in UFC featherweight competition, the highest in divisional history.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on X @MJCflipdascript.
