Posted on: February 16, 2026, 08:18h.
Last updated on: February 16, 2026, 08:27h.
- UFC CEO Dana White says he is in Washington this week to discuss the White House UFC event in June with U.S. President Donald Trump
- Internet speculation revolving around Gaethje-Topuria lightweight title unification bout
- White House card will feature half the fights normally seen at UFC “numbered” cards
The UFC’s White House event card will feature half the number of fights fans normally see at “numbered” events, but UFC CEO and President Dana White has been promising those fights on the card June 14 will pack more of an overall wallop.
TKO Group CEO and Executive Chairman Ari Emanuel went on “The Pat McAfee Show” last week and said the card would have a total of six or seven fights, less than usual. White said the expected blockbuster UFC card, to be held on the front lawn of the White House, helping to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary, is “done”.
UFC legends Conor McGregor and Jon Jones have said they want to fight at the event. Jones is retired. McGregor hasn’t fought in 5 years – a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier. McGregor has expressed an interest in fighting Michael Chandler. He was supposed to make his comeback against Chandler at UFC 303 in June 2024 but had to pull out weeks before because of an injured toe. McGregor has lost three of his last four UFC fights.
White House 250th Anniversary Celebrations
One thing that’s interesting – the timing of the White House event lines up nicely with a Justin Gaethje versus Ilia Topuria lightweight title unification fight.
Gaethje just beat Paddy Pimblett in a memorable fight at UFC 324 and is now interim title holder. Lightweight champion Ilia Topuria announced he was stepping away from UFC late in 2025 to deal with a personal matter – which ended up being a marriage separation, and accusations of extortion by Topuria.
Media reports last week though had Topuria back training.
At yesterday’s Zuffa Boxing 3 news conference, White was asked for an update on the White House card.
Topuria Versus Gaethje?
“We had two different options laid out, and the matchmaking process has already started,” he said. “We got the White House card done last week.”
When asked how many title fights would be on the skid, White smiled and said, “I’m not saying anything.”
White did say he was flying to Washington this week along with UFC Executive Vice President of Operations and Production Craig Borsari to meet with President Donald Trump and Trump’s team to update them on event plans. White said he doesn’t know yet how or when the card will be announced.
Betting Lines
“We will start walking them through not just the production, but the fight card we have,” said White. “We have like, three different options on all the different production stuff and we will see what he likes and what he doesn’t like. But let me tell you this, this event is going to be so badass and so unique and so special, and so expensive.”
At DraftKings, Topuria is currently -400 to be UFC lightweight champion by Dec. 31, 2026, followed by Arman Tsarukyan at +350, then Gaethje at +400, Max Holloway at +700, Charles Oliveira at +800 and Benoit Saint-Denis at +900.
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