When the Octagon is set up on the South Lawn of the White House this June in Washington, D.C., the six matchups scheduled for the anticipated UFC Freedom 250 event will officially be sanctioned contests.
The UFC announced Thursday morning the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) will serve as an independent third party and assist the UFC in assembling a commission for the event.
Andrew Huff, the head of the Combat Sports Commission in the District of Columbia, raised some concerns earlier in the week when he suggested in an interview with the Washington Post that if the UFC did not pay a standard $100 fee to obtain a permit to hold the event in D.C., then the fights on the card would not be officially sanctioned bouts and the results would not go on the fighters’ professional record.
However, since the White House is located on federal land, UFC Freedom 250 does not fall under the jurisdiction of D.C.’s Combat Sports Commission.
The full statement from ABC president Timothy Shipman below explains the situation and confirmed all contests are being licensed and sanctioned:
“The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), specifically Marc Ratner and Hunter Campbell, has contacted the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) in support of the White House event scheduled for June 14, 2026.
“As the event is being held on federal property, there is no requirement for the UFC to select a state athletic commission to oversee the event. The UFC expresses its commitment to ensuring that this event is among the most thoroughly regulated in the history of the sport and has requested that the ABC serve as an independent third party to assist in assembling the most qualified group of judges, referees, and inspectors in the world.
“The UFC has further confirmed that it will abide by all applicable regulatory requirements in support of this event, including all required medical examinations, pre-bout and post-bout physicals, and athlete safety protocols. All bouts on this card are officially licensed and sanctioned contests.”
The ABC is a regulatory body that oversees the safety, integrity, and various rule sets of professional boxing and mixed martial arts events in the United States.
The UFC's chief business officer, Hunter Campell, and senior VP of UFC government and regulatory affairs, Marc Ratner, will collaborate with the ABC on the details of the regulatory oversight for UFC Freedom 250.
This is not an entirely unique situation when it comes to regulatory issues for the UFC, even though the White House is a unique location for an event.
The UFC does occasionally assemble its own commissions to oversee events when they travel to various jurisdictions that do not have proper local athletic commissions. One such event in 2025 where the UFC served as its own commission, for example, was a UFC Fight Night card held in Shanghai, China last summer.
“UFC is the gold standard for athlete health and safety in combat sports – bar none, and we will absolutely bring those same industry leading standards to this incredible, unique event at the White House,” Ratner said in a press release. “We thank the Association of Boxing Commissions for lending their expertise to ensure the highest standards of competitive integrity and professional governance to a truly unprecedented stage for MMA.”
UFC Freedom 250 is set to become the first professional sporting event held on the White House property.
Below is the projected bout order for the six-fight card:
-- Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje (lightweight title unification bout)
-- Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane (for interim heavyweight title)
-- Sean O'Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi
-- Mauricio Ruffy vs. Michael Chandler
-- Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus
-- Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia
