On June 14th, Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane will fight in the co-main event on the UFC White House card for the interim heavyweight title. The winner will be guaranteed a fight with the champion Tom Aspinall next. As such, many may have expected Aspinall to be among those in the crowd on the South Lawn watching the fight closely or even step in for a face-off at the end. However, the UFC heavyweight champion has revealed that the promotion hasn’t extended any sort of invite for the Freedom 250 event.

The reigning heavyweight champion made the revelation on the Fight Your Corner podcast, where host and former world champion boxer Tony Bellew found it surprising and disrespectful. But Tom Aspinall didn’t feel the same way.

“No, they’ve not asked me,” Aspinall revealed. “No one’s asked me yet. To be honest, I’ve never really thought about it until you asked me. No, I don’t feel disrespected.”

While it is commendable that the UFC champ doesn’t feel disrespected over the apparent snub, getting the invite to the UFC White House event, even for a champion like Aspinall, is tricky, and there’s a reason for it. The spectacle mainly celebrates American patriotism and the contributions of the military. As a result, most seats will be reserved for military personnel and other VIP members like dignitaries from around the world. So the promotion hasn’t invited most UFC champions, and not just Aspinall. Maybe that’s why the heavyweight champion doesn’t feel disrespected over the lack of an invite.

However, Aspinall made it clear that if the UFC had actually invited him to watch the bout between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane, he would’ve definitely made his way to the US.

“No, I agree, but if they call me and say, ‘Tom, we want you there,’ then yeah, I’ll be there,” Aspinall added. “If they ask me, I’ll be there. Yeah, if they asked me, I would definitely go. I actually would like to watch [Pereira vs Gane up close]. There are no excuses; I would. I have nothing to say otherwise.”

Well, even if Tom Aspinall doesn’t get the chance to attend the UFC Freedom 250 event directly from the South Lawn, he can definitely make an appearance at the adjacent Ellipse Park, where, reportedly, over 80,000 fans would watch the event. But it seems unlikely the Brit would be there interacting with fans instead of analyzing the actual fight from the comfort of his home.

While Tom Aspinall appears pretty content with the fact that he won’t be joining the June 14 spectacle, a legend of the organization has revealed he too was snubbed for the invite. 

Former UFC champion left disappointed after not receiving UFC White House invitation

After an over-decade-and-a-half-long UFC career, Tito Ortiz felt his contributions in the Octagon should’ve been enough to earn him a proper invite for the UFC Freedom 250 event. But he received no such offer from Dana White.

“I wish I was invited to the White House card, and I’m not,” Ortiz told Tomi Lahren. “After the 16 years I gave to them, from the very beginning, when they first bought the company, to almost the end, where they sold the company. I don’t get tickets. I gotta pay for my own tickets when I do want to go.

“If you’re on Dana’s good side, you don’t have to pay for anything. I get it. He said if you want to be a good friend, I’m a good friend. He goes, but if you want to be an enemy, I’m good at that also.”

So it appears that not only are champions getting snubbed for the invite, even veterans have not been offered a chance to come to the big event. While Tito Ortiz’s resentment toward Dana White is understandable, the UFC has already revealed that the event will be exclusive for select 4000-5000 people, most of whom will be from the military.