UFC Freedom 250 takes place Sunday from the South Lawn of the White House. The unique location provides fighters on the card with a chance to stake their claim to a unique piece of sports history.
In the night’s main event, lightweight champion Ilia Topuria will face interim champion Justin Gaethje in a fight with potential to produce explosive results.
Another title is on the line in the UFC Freedom 250 co-main event, with former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira looking for heavyweight gold when he faces Ciryl Gane for the vacant interim heavyweight title.
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With so much happening on Saturday night, let’s look closer at the full fight card with the latest odds before we get to our staff predictions and picks for the festivities that you can consider before hitting the sportsbooks.
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Brent Brookhouse
UFC Freedom 250 fight card, odds
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook (as of June 12)
UFC Freedom 250 predictions, picks
With such a massive main event on tap, the crew at CBS Sports went ahead with predictions and picks for the main card from Brian Campbell, Brent Brookhouse, Shakiel Mahjouri, Michael Mormile and Brandon Wise.
| Topuria (c) vs. Gaethje (ic) | Topuria KO2 | Topuria TKO3 | Topuria KO2 | Topuria KO2 | Topuria KO1 |
| Gane vs. Pereira | Pereira TKO1 | Pereira KO2 | Pereira UD | Pereira KO4 | Gane UD |
| O’Malley vs. Zahabi | O’Malley UD | O’Malley UD | O’Malley UD | O’Malley UD | O’Malley UD |
| Hokit vs. Lewis | Hokit TKO2 | Hokit TKO1 | Hokit KO-1 | Hokit SUB3 | Hokit TKO1 |
| Ruffy vs. Chandler | Ruffy KO2 | Ruffy KO2 | Ruffy KO2 | Ruffy UD | Ruffy KO1 |
| Nickal vs. Daukaus | Nickal SD | Daukaus UD | Nickal UD | Nickal UD | Daukaus UD |
| Lopes vs. Garcia | Lopes TKO3 | Garcia UD | Lopes UD | Lopes UD | Garcia UD |
| Records to date | 10-10 | 12-8 | 12-8 | 12-8 | 10-10 |
Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje predictions
Campbell: Despite the renaissance run that the 37-year-old Gaethje is currently on in his second reign as interim lightweight champion, he’s simply tailor made for everything Topuria does great. The two-division champion enters the fight coming off of an 11-month layoff and a very public divorce that played out in the tabloids. But any worry about all of that affecting his performance in a negative fashion quickly dissipated when Gaethje pressed Topuria’s buttons in recent weeks by talking publicly about his personal issues. Topuria will have more than enough motivation to deliver a cold finish by using Gaethje’s aggressiveness against him.
Brookhouse: Gaethje will have a notable size advantage, but that’s not entirely unusual for Topuria, who has overcome those disadvantages against men like Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway. Topuria hits hard and has a complete game where he does everything just a little bit better than Gaethje, who will certainly bring his trademark blood and guts approach to the fight. Unfortunately for Gaethje, Topuria’s speed will allow him to deliver his power more capably. The damage will add up and eventually lead to the stoppage win for Topuria.
Mahjouri: Topuria is in his physical prime; the layoff shouldn’t matter. Preparation is the champion’s best weapon. His team is studious, envisioning a game plan from the opponent’s perspective before reverse engineering it. He’s not urgent, either. Topuria patiently sets traps and analyzes rhythms before delivering a kill shot. Gaethje’s best hope is to catch Topuria cold or drown him late. Both those strategies require a level of risk that he can’t afford to take against Topuria. Gaethje has the power to get it done, but not the chin or finesse.
Ciryl Gane vs. Alex Pereira predictions
Campbell: At a muscular 6-foot-5, with the speed and footwork of a middleweight, there are plenty of reasons on paper to believe that Gane could be a handful for Pereira in his first fight at heavyweight after winning titles in two divisions. But few fighters in UFC history have shown the ability to rise to the occasion when the stage is the brightest quite like Pereira. His power is a problem regardless of the opponent, weight class or the fact that Gane has largely been durable throughout his UFC run. And the fact that Gane — despite his recent comments — isn’t much of a threat to take Pereira down or threaten a submission, this is the type of kickboxing matchup that “Poatan” can win. Expect the lack of a weight cut to also play a key role in just how aggressive Pereira will be early on.
Brookhouse: Gane is such an odd fighter. He’s constantly near the top of the rankings, but so rarely looks like an elite fighter against other top fighters. Gane seemed like he was finally putting in that elite-level performance against Tom Aspinall, but then delivered a double-eye poke that shook up the heavyweight division. Pereira is coming in big for his heavyweight debut, and that probably means he’s also carrying up his power. Gane has never been the kind of grappler who could shock a striker and Pereira is the much better striker, which gives the Brazilian a clear advantage even as the fight sits as a near pick-em at the sportsbooks.
Mahjouri: Gane’s unique qualities make him a stiffer heavyweight test than most. Pereira’s biggest advantages moving to heavyweight are speed and striking. Against Gane, he faces the most athletic and refined striker in the division. Gane isn’t faster or a better striker than Pereira, but he closes the gap enough that his natural size could make the difference. But I want to believe that Pereira can win a historic third title, interim or otherwise. Both men are walking around at approximately the same weight, tempering concerns about Gane wrestling his way to a decision. I don’t know which way this’ll go, but I want to believe Pereira can achieve something no fighter has before.
Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis predictions
Campbell: The presence of Lewis’ power and his reputation as the greatest knockout artist in UFC history means fans shouldn’t expect a repeat of Hokit’s last fight, when he fought tooth and nail for 15 minutes with Curtis Blaydes in April. But as long as Hokit establishes the threat of his wrestling game, which has long been Lewis’ Kryptonite, this should be a relatively easy test for the brash Hokit to pass as he continues on the fast track to stardom and, possibly, an immediate title shot. The 41-year-old Lewis has been stopped five times in the past five years and tends to implode in recent years when he’s overwhelmed by pressure. Hokit’s hand speed will be a major problem for him.
