UFC Freedom 250 was every bit the spectacle it was made out to be. It had everything from fireworks to Tyson Fury getting his own special walkout. Why, you ask—who knows, but it was a thing that happened. All the brass showed up including Hunter Campbell, Nick Khan and Ari Emanuel. The crowd on the Ellipse was massive, and the crowd sitting cageside consisted of military members and first responders decked out in their uniforms. The orchestra sounded amazing and the music was as all-American as apple pie. Even when this very MAGA outfit played YMCA—one of the most recognizable gay anthems ever. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say they think they’ve claimed it for themselves. The card opened with Diego Lopes absolutely destroying Steve Garcia. The first round was a bit tentative, but the second was where all the action went down. Lopes would stop Garcia with a barrage of punches that put his lights out. That was followed by Bo Nickal stopping Kyle Daukaus in the first with a nice TKO. Michael Chandler never stood a chance against Maurio Ruffy. Ruffy was patient as Chandler evaded him, taking forever to get close enough to engage, but when it finally happened, Ruffy punished him with spinning head kicks and hammering punches. Finally, mercifully, Mauricio finished him off toward the end of the round via TKO. Michael Chandler is truly washed. Josh Hokit might be a gross character with absolutely no vocal talent, but he had the exact recipe to dispatch Derrick Lewis. He punished Lewis on the feet, who was completely exhausted before the first round was over. Hokit would finish him in the second via TKO, likely increasing his UFC stock in the process. Sean O’Malley was dominant with his striking all the way through his fight with Aiemann Zahabi. Zahabi used a leg kick assault, that wasn’t as effective as he’d hoped. Sean found his moment with a big left, followed it up with a giant right then saluted the crowd as Zahabi fell back. The Petr Yan callout happened, as expected, and you have to believe that fight will happen sometime this year. Cyril Gane took some hard low kicks and one or two big punches over the course of the first round against Poatan. The second round, however, was an entirely different story, as he tuned up Alex Pereira, mauling him with big strikes, knocking him down and raining ground and pound like a man possessed. Herb dean would let it go on though, and over the course of the next 45 seconds, Gane beat Alex as if he stole his lunch money on the playground. The end was inevitable and it came via TKO. Poatan is a 205er. Justin Gaethje was a huge underdog going in, so it is a fitting end that he walks away tonight with the undisputed belt. The fight was back and forth, with Topuria almost finishing Justin in the second, and Gaethje wrecking Ilia in the third. Topuria’s face was a red mask of destruction. The doctor’s came in before the fourth, almost stopping the fight but Marc Goddard had the physicians reassess and they let it move forward. Topuria fought a good fourth round, but his team threw in the towel before the fifth and Justin Gaethje was crowned the new lightweight king. Now that we’ve reviewed the highlights, let’s check out the results and bonuses while we’re here. MMA Vivisection & 6th Round is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. UFC Freedom 250 Results * 155 lbs.: Justin Gaethje def. Ilia Topuria by TKO (corner stoppage), round 4 (5:00) * 265 lbs.: Cyril Gane def. Alex Pereira by TKO (punches), round 2 (1:27) * 135 lbs.: Sean O’Malley def. Aiemann Zahabi by TKO (left-right-salute), round 2 (4:02) * 265 lbs.: Josh Hokit def. Derrick Lewis by TKO (punches), round 2 (4:02) * 155 lbs.: Mauricio Ruffy def. Michael Chandler by TKO (punches), round 1 (4:29) * 185 lbs.: Bo Nickal def. Kyle Daukaus by TKO (punches), round 1 (4:34) * 145 lbs.: Diego Lopes def. Steve Garcia by KO (punches), round 2 (2:43) UFC Freedom 250 Bonuses * $100K each FOTN: $400K each FOTN: Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje * $100K each POTN: $425K each POTN: Justin Gaethje, Ciryl Gane * $25K each to the other fighters that got a finish: Diego Lopes, Bo Nickal, Mauricio Ruffy, Josh Hokit, Sean O'Malley Thank you for reading this article and listening to the podcast. Please consider subscribing to The MMA Vivisection & 6th Round Post-fight Show podcast Substack to enjoy our premium content. Your paid subscriptions are keeping hope alive that we can continue on with our shows. If you haven’t already, please pledge with a paid subscription today. If you have, please share this post far and wide. Thanks for reading MMA Vivisection & 6th Round! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com/subscribe
