Outside Source
The Ultimate Fighting Championship‘s historic card is officially set for Sunday following the UFC White House weigh-ins.
Headlining the first professional sporting event to take place on the White House lawn is a lightweight title unification fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje, while Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight championship serves as the co-main event. All four fighters successfully made the championship weight without any issue. Now, all seven bouts on the monumental event are officially moving forward after no fighters on the card had issues on the scale. Additionally, Diego Lopes came back a second time to make lightweight championship weight of 154 pounds to qualify as a replacement for the headliner if disaster struck.
The undefeated Topuria (17-0) enters the fight having torn through the UFC’s featherweight and lightweight divisions since debuting in 2020. “El Matador” is coming off knockouts of Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira, cementing himself as one of the most dangerous and exciting mixed martial artists. Just 29 years of age, the Spanish fighter weighed 155 pounds on the dot for his first fight of 2026.
Looking to cause a sizable upset is Gaethje (27-5). The American holds the interim lightweight championship, having battered Paddy Pimblett over five rounds to earn the title earlier this year while Topuria was out. “The Highlight” has won four of his last five fights, with a last-second knockout to Max Holloway in their iconic “BMF” title fight being his lone defeat. The American is 37, so this is realistically his last chance at seizing undisputed UFC gold. Gaethje stepped on the scale at 155 pounds exactly.
Meanwhile, former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Pereira (13-3) moves up to heavyweight for an interim title fight against Ciryl Gane, whose illegal eye pokes injured champion Tom Aspinall last year. “Poatan” will look to claim a UFC title in a historic three divisions, while Gane (13-2) will look to gain interim titleholder status for a second time. The Brazilian weighed 251 pounds for his move to heavyweight, while “Bon Gamin” came in at 248 pounds.
UFC White House will stream in its entirety on Paramount+ on Sunday, with the card starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
UFC White House weigh-in results:
Ilia Topuria (155) vs. Justin Gaethje (155)
Alex Pereira (251) vs. Ciryl Gane (248)
Sean O’Malley (135.5) vs. Aiemann Zahabi (135)
Josh Hokit (231) vs. Derrick Lewis (265)
Mauricio Ruffy (155) vs. Michael Chandler (156)
Bo Nickal (186) vs. Kyle Daukaus (186)
Diego Lopes (146) vs. Steve Garcia (146)
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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