WASHINGTON -- The 14 fighters selected to participate on the UFC card at the White House are a part of a one-in-a-career event that is likely never to happen again. Combined, these fighters have experienced hundreds of fight weeks, but the lead-up to Sunday's show on the White House lawn is unlike any of those.
Yes, there is media to do and weight to make, just like any other fight week. But this week in Washington had sightseeing tours around national monuments as well as training at FBI headquarters and in hotel conference rooms late at night. There have been haircuts, shopping sprees and a few golf swings, too.
Before UFC Freedom 250 starts, take a look behind the scenes at how fighters have spent their week in Washington.
Photography by Carolyn Van Houten for ESPN.
Gane stays loose at a golf simulator before final training begins
UFC heavyweight Ciryl Gane takes time to work on his swing in a golf simulator before the full weight of fight week hits the team. He picked up the game a year ago but says he already has plans to play competitively down the road. His older brother, David, describes Gane as a guy "everyone can become friends with," which is apparent as he bounces around the room, challenging friends to shuffleboard matches between swings. At one point, he finds a random football on the floor and begins a full-speed game of catch, until the ball bounces into another group's bay.
Gane used to openly share these light, fun moments of his life on social media but has pulled back in recent years. In 2023, Jon Jones made dismissive comments about Gane's love for video games before their title fight at UFC 285. Jones suggested Gane was distracted from reaching his full potential as a fighter. Gane was surprised the narrative took off and has since been far more protective in what part of his life he shows fans.
Gane laughs with longtime coach Fernand Lopez inside the UFC host hotel in Washington. Lopez, who the team lovingly refers to this morning as "king," has coached Gane since the beginning of his UFC career and remains one of the most influential voices in his camp. Saturday's fight against Alex Pereira will be Gane and Lopez's fifth UFC title fight together.
The most tantalizing heavyweight conversations in recent memory have revolved around Francis Ngannou, Tom Aspinall, Jones and, now, Pereira -- even though none of those four have ever been in the same fight. On Sunday, Gane will become the first (and perhaps only) heavyweight to face all four. The team is 0-2 in those bouts with one no-contest. Lopez says he hasn't discussed with Gane the magnitude of getting a win against Pereira, but the entire team feels it.
"We are manifesting that and working toward that," Lopez says. "We don't talk about it or make it a problem that has to be solved. But the way you can tell if that's on someone's mind is watching how they train. And Ciryl has done everything he can do for this fight."
This week feels a little like a home game for Gane because David lives in the D.C. area. David is a former strategy consultant for Meta and handles much of the logistics of Gane's career on the business side.
While this week is a historically unique one for the UFC, Gane is used to the pressure of a big fight. He has been in half of some of the biggest heavyweight fights in recent memory, scattered across Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi. He regularly works with a mental health coach, who is flying to Washington this week from Bahrain for in-person sessions with Gane.
FBI opens its gym to Gaethje
UFC interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje and his team hold their nightly training session in the underground gym of the Federal Bureau of Investigations Headquarters. Gaethje held a seminar with FBI executives and agents earlier this year. Gaethje was born in the small mining city of Safford, Arizona, where many of his family members worked in copper mines. Gaethje aspired to become a professional athlete to avoid following that path. He wrestled at the University of Northern Colorado before transitioning into professional MMA. He is a two-time interim champion and BMF champion. He has fought for the undisputed title twice and lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira. The main event against Topuria is likely his final shot at winning an undisputed title.
Daukaus arrives after road-tripping from Philly
Kyle Daukaus arrives at the fighter hotel in his brother's SUV, after a three-hour drive from his home in Philadelphia. Daukaus, 33, doesn't like to fly and has driven to some of his other UFC fights in the past, including one at Madison Square Garden. It also reminds him of the earliest chapters of his career, when he fought primarily in Philadelphia and Atlantic City.
As part of athlete check-in, Daukaus signs the UFC Freedom 250 fight poster. Then, Daukaus and his older brother, Chris, walk the half-mile from the fighter hotel to Washington Monument. Daukus, who is a +145 underdog, according to DraftKings Sportsbook, in his fight against Bo Nickal, did not expect the UFC to select him for this event. "This is history," he tells ESPN. "My name is going to be on this poster forever. This is etched in history forever."
After unpacking his small amount of luggage, Daukus sits down in his hotel room to journal. He says it's one of the most important activities he does on a daily basis. "I've been working with a mental coach," he says. "I try to journal in the morning. I know that if I feel good throughout the fight week, I'll feel good on that fight night."
Hotel conference rooms become training ground
Daukaus and his brother get a sweat in later, inside a workout room that is designated for athletes all week. Chris, a former Philadelphia police officer and UFC heavyweight, has been at Kyle's side throughout his MMA career. "It's terrifying [watching him fight] because I don't have any control," Chris says. "It's like watching your kid go off on their first day of school and you have no control over what is going to happen to them and there's nothing you can do to help. You just have to trust that he can handle it."
Daukaus shares the room with several other fighters on the card, including UFC lightweight Michael Chandler. Most athletes reserve their hardest training for evenings to set their body clocks to the time of day they'll compete on fight night.
A former champion in another promotion, Chandler has lost five of his past six bouts but three of those defeats won him fight of the night bonuses. He campaigned as much as any fighter on the roster for a spot on the White House card, and was likely chosen for his track record of exciting fights. "I plan on getting my hand raised," he tells ESPN. "This one's for me. It's not about proving myself. It's not about making people cheer. It's not about putting smiles on the UFC brass' faces. This is about me getting my hand raised on America's 250th birthday."
Alex Pereira joins his team for an afternoon workout at the fighter hotel. Pereira, one of the sport's biggest stars, will face Gane for the interim heavyweight championship on Sunday. Pereira is almost always flanked by his longtime striking coach, Plinio Cruz.
Topuria meets the media
In every host city, the UFC's fighter hotel turns into a fully operational headquarters. Athletes do everything from media obligations to equipment checks to weight cutting inside the hotel. The various teams cross paths all week -- UFC security is prepared ahead of time on schedules and potential confrontations between athletes. This week, no team comes even close to the size of lightweight headliner Ilia Topuria. A small army of Topuria's associates accompany him from task to task, nearly all of them dressed in all black (which is intentional, and planned ahead). Topuria is one of the UFC's biggest stars and has drawn comparisons to Conor McGregor for his meteoric rise, unwavering confidence and knockout power.
Topuria is widely recognized as one of the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the world, along with UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev. Topuria's past three fights make up one of the greatest stretches in the sport's history. Since February 2024, Topuria has knocked out featherweight greats Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway and longtime lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. The 29-year-old is so confident, he and his team have planned a celebration dinner in Washington the night before UFC Freedom 250. Topuria likes to celebrate his victories before they happen. He did so publicly ahead of his fight against Oliveira and knocked him out in the opening round.
Pereira prepares for his heavyweight debut
Pereira sits down with social media influencer and barber Vic Blends for his signature, fight week head shave. Pereira, of São Paulo, Brazil, is well-known for this change of appearance before every fight, as well as face paint and headdresses at weigh-ins. The weigh-in look is to honor his roots to the Indigenous Pataxó tribe in Brazil. The shaved head, he says, is more for fans.
"It's my trademark and I know the people are expecting that," Pereira tells ESPN. "I guess I do feel a little stronger when I look in the mirror with the shaved head. I don't know if it changes or intimidates any of my opponents, but if it does, beautiful. We'll always use that."
If Pereira defeats Gane, he will become the first fighter in the 32-year history of the UFC to win a belt in three different weight classes. UFC CEO Dana White has said if Pereira wins, White will consider him to be the greatest fighter of all time, surpassing former two-weight champion Jon Jones. Pereira's last fight was at the 205-pound light heavyweight limit. He also won a title at 185 pounds, which required a drastic weight cut every time he fought.
Former UFC lightweight champion Glover Teixeira is Pereira's grappling coach and mentor. He became the UFC's oldest first-time champion in 2021, when he captured the belt at 42 years old. In anticipation of Pereira's move to heavyweight, the team started its camp in Teixeira's hometown in Sobralia, Brazil. According to Plinio Cruz, the strategy was for Pereira to train, hike and enjoy bulking up with a big Brazilian diet. "Glover had on his farm a chef, waiting for us every lunch," Cruz says. "Brazilian picanha, the top steak in Brazil. It was just hard work and beef. We got him big."
Pereira's team is incredibly tight, traveling the world together. When they spent a month in Sobralia, Pereira hosted an event in which he raffled off appliances -- refrigerators, washers and dryers -- to local residents in need. He purchased the items in Sobralia, rather than a large, neighboring city where they would have been far less expensive. "He wanted to buy them in Sobralia to help the local economy," Teixeira says.
Chandler greets his family
Chandler greets his wife, Brie, and two sons, Hap and Ace, who have just flown in from their home in Nashville. Earlier in the week, Chandler had scoped out the top floor of the hotel and discovered a balcony where the Octagon and "claw" structure are visible on the South Lawn. He immediately takes the boys there to share his excitement for the event.
Chandler has had one of the most interesting and unique MMA careers of the past decade. While he was the reigning lightweight champion in Bellator MMA, the former All-American wrestler at Missouri was considered one of the best fighters in the world to never fight in the UFC.
Following an 11-year run in Bellator, Chandler finally moved to the UFC in 2021 and has been involved in iconic fights against Gaethje, Oliveira and Dustin Poirier. His record, however, has been 2-5. He admitted to ESPN this week that the long wait to get into the UFC created some desire on his part to deliver the most entertaining fights possible.
O'Malley transforms into 'Suga Sean'
Former bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley, another one of the sport's biggest stars who was always expected to make an appearance on the card, prepares for the UFC's once-in-a-lifetime news conference at the Lincoln Memorial with his daughter, Elena. His wife, Danya, is the owner of Hairapy Salon & Boutique in Peoria, Arizona, and dyes O'Malley's hair a different color before every fight.
Lopes rolls with an Olympian
Featherweight Diego Lopes, who faces Steve Garcia in the opening bout of UFC Freedom 250, greets his wrestling coach, David Taylor, for the first time at the fighter hotel and immediately gets in an evening workout. Taylor is one of the most accomplished U.S. wrestlers of all time. He won a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and was a two-time NCAA Division I national champion at Penn State. He is currently the head wrestling coach at Oklahoma State.
Taylor began working with Lopes, who is from Brazil, in 2025, but this is the first time Taylor will be Lopes' cornerman for a fight. In fact, Sunday at the White House will mark the first time Taylor has ever worked a corner in an MMA fight.
"First time," Taylor tells ESPN. "Obviously, my background is not in MMA, but I think in terms of being around high-level events and the preparation that goes in, I think I'll bring a level of calm."
Garcia picks up souvenirs at the mall
Garcia, of Albuquerque, walks the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City with his team and father, Steve Garcia Sr. The UFC Freedom 250 fight card is unique in that it only features seven fights, compared to the usual 13 or 14 bouts. The abbreviated card is loaded with athletes who are considered to have entertaining styles. That includes Garcia, who has won four fight night bonuses in his career.
Perhaps in anticipation of winning one of the UFC-record $425,000 fight night bonuses on Sunday, Garcia splurges at the mall, walking away with a $600 Pokémon Lego set and a new suit for the upcoming prefight news conference at the Lincoln Memorial, which he showed off with an old-fashioned wedding "first look" reveal to his father.
Zahabi and GSP put on for Canada
Aiemann Zahabi shows off his custom suit alongside his coach and brother, Firas, and mentor, fellow Canadian Georges St-Pierre. The three are forced to kill time as they wait out a lightning delay for the news conference at the Lincoln Memorial. Zahabi, and every other fighter on the card, needs to cut weight ahead of Saturday morning's weigh-in, so the two-hour delay is not ideal. Zahabi smiles and takes it in stride.
"This is why Dana chose us for this card," Zahabi tells ESPN. "We're all trying to do something great. Whatever punches are thrown at us during this, we're going to take it, otherwise we wouldn't be here. I really don't know when I'm going to fight on Sunday, with the potential weather delays, but it's cool because we're going to have a story to tell."
Fight weekend begins at the Lincoln Memorial
Following a two-hour rain delay, during which police officers clear the entire area of spectators due to lightning, the Lincoln Memorial provides an unforgettable backdrop for the UFC Freedom 250 news conference. Despite the weather, the entire west side of the Reflecting Pool fills with UFC fans. Rain is currently in the forecast for Sunday, but in what will likely prove to be his final words to the public on the matter, White promises fireworks for the U.S. 250th birthday.
"Happy birthday, America," White says to open the weekend. "The show goes on, no matter what. I'm sick and tired of talking about the weather. We are fighting on Sunday night on the lawn of the White House, no matter what."