UFC Freedom 250 was going full steam ahead until it hit a snag with the regulation. Since the White House event was on federal land, there was a question about which sanctioning body would regulate it. All eyes were on the DC Combat Sports Commission, without whom, it seemed, these fights, two of which were for titles, could not be deemed official. But the UFC has found a workaround, and it has not pleased everyone.
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“UFC, today announced that the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) will serve as an independent third party to advise on the regulatory operations for the unprecedented UFC event scheduled for Sunday, Jun. 14, on the grounds of the iconic White House, one of the most significant and renowned locations in the world, per an announcement on UFC.com.”
Initially, the expectations from the UFC were to rope in the District of Columbia Combat Sports Commission as the regulatory authority. To that end, Chairman Andrew Huff also approached the leading MMA promotion to get them on board and take the necessary permits. However, Dana White & Co. shared a different opinion.
Since the White House is a federal property, the UFC executives weren’t interested in paying the amount to a local sanctioning body to oversee the historic event. And for this, the concerns rose up. Typically, if a combat sports event does not have a sanctioning body overseeing its event, the matchups on the card would be classified as non-regulated bouts and would carry no official recognition.
Consequently, the outcomes of the fights on that particular card would not be reflected on the fighters’ professional records. Now, there have been times when Dana White & Co. have attempted to bypass some mandates through loopholes.
All fights at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the White House will be officially licensed and regulated with the Association of Boxing Commissions serving as regulatory advisors, per a release. The White House is on federal land, so it is not subject to state jurisdiction.
Take the example of UFC 249, which was marred by a buzzing controversy. The Tachi Palace Casino Resort, located on the sovereign tribal land of the Tachi-Yokut Tribe in California, was set to host the event on April 18, 2020. Interestingly, this was at a time when the California State Athletic Commission had banned combat sports owing to the COVID-19 guidelines.
But the UFC CEO was ready to bypass the ban with an attempt to use the resort’s status on sovereign tribal land. Ultimately, White did not move forward with exploiting the loophole after officials from Disney and ESPN came in with their requests. And UFC 249 was postponed, and Florida became the revised location a month later.
However, unlike that occasion, this time, Dana White & Co. didn’t pay heed to the local authority’s requests as they tied up with a higher authority. The Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) is a national body in the sense that it provides a central, unified framework for combat sports regulation across the United States and Canada. DC Combat Sports Commission’s Chairman Andrew Huff is not happy with the move.
He told Severe MMA, “The ABC is not a sanctioning body and has no authority in the District of Columbia. While I am relieved to learn that an additional organization will maintain some sort of oversight of the UFC White House event, I am disappointed that the ABC, which represents Commissions across the United States, including in the District of Columbia, has chosen to ignore our Commission’s laws and authority. It sets a dangerous precedent for all commissions and the industry as a whole.”
Now that the regulatory authority for the event is good to go, what matchups are actually taking place at the historic evening?
A look into the UFC White House card featuring Ilia Topuria, Alex Pereira
The UFC White House event will go down on June 14 as part of America’s 250th celebration. On top of that, it also coincides with POTUS Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. For the leading MMA promotion, it is a one-of-a-kind event, and citing that, they claim to have put forward their best possible card.
Headlining the event will be a UFC lightweight title unification bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje. Both possess immense striking prowess, with Topuria having six knockouts in his UFC career, while Gaethje has five. In the co-main event, Alex Pereira‘s UFC heavyweight debut is set to go down.
Eyeing a historic three-division champion record, ‘Poatan’ will fight Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title. The card also features Sean O’Malley against Canada’s Aiemann Zahabi, Michael Chandler against Brazil’s Mauricio Ruffy, Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus, and Steve Garcia against the formidable Diego Lopes.
The card promises a lineup of six exciting matchups with rumors of a seventh likely to be added. That said, do let us know your predictions for the historic event below!
