Those would be Justin Gaethje, lightweight champ Ilia Topuria, Alex Pereira, and Ciryl Gane.

Of course, the event is being held on the White House grounds in Washington, on Trump’s birthday no less. Yet few expected him to host what amounted to a brief press conference, with Gaethje’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz— long reported to have links to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks and who later worked as an FBI informant— even giving a speech.

Then, there was the unveiling of a special, themed belt for the card, which is headlined by lightweight champ Topuria and American challenger/interim champ Gaethje. The only American fighter among the top four, Gaethje took time for laud Trump on Wednesday for opening his venues to the promotion back when arenas wouldn’t book them in the early years of the company.

“I’d think we’d be ten years behind if it wasn’t for you, so thank you for that,” stated Gaethje, who was still seven years away from starting his pro career the last time a UFC event was held at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, back in 2001.

Opponent Topuria, favored to retain his title next month, lauded Trump as well, saying “I never thought you would be so kind.” At the same time, he questioned why Trump wanted “to give the toughest test to your friend [Gaethje]?”

As Gaethje interjected, saying “that’s what I want,” Trump and Topuria had a little back and forth. “I want to give the hardest test, we’re going to give the hardest test. And actually each one of you is fighting your toughest test I think,” stated Trump. “You know your opponent very well, very tough.”

“I know him. Very tough opponent,” Topuria said in response.

“Do you feel good?” asked Trump. “Very good,” answered Topuria, who added that he had “complete faith” when Trump asked what his chances of winning were.

“100%, right? And they believe that too,” observed Trump, with Topuria adding that he hoped Gaethje “has that same faith. That’s going to make an amazing fight.”

The seven-fight Freedom 250 card at the White House takes place on June 14. Originally planned for July 4 to coincide with the American Semiquincentennial (250 years since the nation’s founding), the card was soon shifted to the June date, though it still carries the Freedom 250 name.

The post Special Freedom 250 Belt Revealed by Trump, Topuria Talks Gaethje Fight with President appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Everything happens for a reason, and now I’m 100% ready to go,” Van (16-2) said during Wednesday’s UFC 328 media day, adding “I get a better poster as well, so that’s a bonus.”

After suffering an injury, the exact nature of which has not been disclosed, that pulled him out of UFC 327, Van got the call from UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell. Van told Campbell he’d only need a few weeks to recover, and got exactly what he was looking for.

“Shout out to Hunter and the UFC for rescheduling it a lot sooner.”

Van won the UFC’s 125lb title late last year in a fight with Alexandre Pantoja, that saw Pantoja go down to injury early. Since becoming champ, life has been good, Van allowed, if little different than it was before. “I always see myself as champion, so it’s nothing new.”

Many expect Pantoja to receive a title shot immediately upon his return, but Van hasn’t heard anything from the Brazilian. “Nothing. Nothing other than what he posts or something.”

Van versus Taira is the first UFC title fight featuring two fighters born in the 2000s. A moment for the next generation to shine, perhaps, but to Van “it feels familiar.”

“This is not the first time I’ve fought a guy that was born in the 2000s. This is the second time, it just happens to be so that we’re fighting for a title. Two Asian guys as well. So it’s going to be great for the Asian community.”

Van also believes the fight is the biggest one for the Asian community in UFC history.

“Yeah for sure. This is the first time two Asian males fight for a title, right? So yeah for sure.”

Van was born in Myanmar; Taira hails from Japan. While fighters like Kyoji Horiguchi and Yushin Okami have fought for gold on the men’s side in years past, an all-Asian title fight has not happened (on the ladies’ side, Weili Zhang defeated Yan Xiaonan in 2024 for the women’s strawweight championship).

Watch the full UFC 328 media day appearance by Joshua Van above.

The post Joshua Van Sees UFC 328 Fight As “Biggest” UFC Fight for Asian Community appeared first on Cageside Press.

Take, for instance, talk of them meeting in the gym. “We only sparred once, and I think we did a three-round spar. We sparred once,” Strickland (30-7) noted. Under a minute of that spar has appeared in footage spread online, leaked by Chimaev.

“When I go to a gym, I want to spar the best guy. I want to spar him. But he would always go beat up the lower level guys,” he said of the brief time the pair were in each other’s orbit.

The match-up, admitted Strickland during Wednesday’s UFC 328 media day, is “a good fight. I think it’s a fun fight.” And, he added, “what else in the top five of the division do you have right now?”

As for the back-and-forth between the pair, with Chimaev suggesting his team could jump Strickland, and Strickland, a gun enthusiast, saying he’d shoot them, Strickland downplayed that as well.

“I don’t think he gives a f*ck, does he? How did this even get started? Oh, I know how it got started, he said something about jumping me. He made a joke about ‘oh my friends would jump you.’ And I said ‘dude you’re a f*cking coward, I’m a grown-ass man.'”

“At no point in my life have I ever said ‘I’m going to jump this man.’ To me, to say that and look myself in the mirror after saying that and saying that I’m going to threaten you with my gang, it kind of makes me feel like a p*ssy,” Strickland continued.

That led to Strickland, usually suffering from a bad case of verbal diarrhea, making the claim that he’d pull a gun if attacked. “Not in Jersey, because we’re in a f*cking communist state, but in Vegas, if I walk outside and there’s three f*cking Chechens, I legally can put a f*cking bullet in each and every one of them. Why? Because in America, we value being a f*cking man. In America, we value one on one fights, we value stand your ground. What we don’t value is being a f*cking weak third-world f*cking p*ssy who threatens [with] friends. It’s such a soft, soft mentality. Soft man, soft man.”

By Sean Strickland standards, it was still a somewhat reserved media day. He didn’t have his mic muted or the plug pulled on his appearance. For all UFC CEO and President Dana White talks of free speech, Strickland has always been the one to push the boundaries the furthest. But on Wednesday, fans also gained insight into just why Strickland is the way he is.

Middleweight champ Chimaev recently posted on social media that Strickland’s father had made him “a girl.” Strickland, who has reacted poorly in the past to talk of his father (just ask Dricus Du Plessis), opened up a little on the troubled home he grew up in.

“My dad kind of made me violent because he was such a weak man. You’re going to find that, maybe Chimaev included— growing up, my dad was like the boogeyman. He was the scariest f*cking thing, the scariest thing in my life. I watched him beat up my mom, throw beer bottles at me. So it’s like to me, my dad almost made me a little bit sociopathic, more like a sociopath than anything. It probably did more harm than good.”

At 17, Strickland confronted his father about not letting his mother go to work one day. When his father got in his face and questioned his resolve, Strickland headbutted the man. “I headbutted him, broke his nose, [he] fell down, and this guy started crying. And it was so disappointing to me, because I’d seen this guy who was this psychopath my whole life who I was scared of, and you just see this whiny little bitch on the floor bleeding. So if anything, I would say my dad more made me a sociopath, why I’m going to have to shoot three Chechens under Stand Your Ground law.”

If nothing else, Strickland was on better behavior than usual on Wednesday, something the UFC will no doubt be grateful for. Of course, there’s still a press conference and weigh-ins to go.

Watch the full UFC 328 media day appearance by Sean Strickland above.

The post UFC 328: Sean Strickland Recalls Standing Up to Abusive Father appeared first on Cageside Press.

Susurkaev (11-0) has the UFC promotional machine behind him, getting a lot of attention after making his debut just days after winning a contract on the Contender Series last year. It’s why he was scheduled for a media day session at UFC 328, despite fighting early on the prelims.

“Honestly I have this 50-50 feeling that they’re not working that hard to push me forward just yet,” said Susurkaev, who feels most of the attention stems from that quick debut.

As for Santos, it’s not the sort of opponent the Russian star was hoping for. He’s previously called out the likes of Bo Nickal, for example. “[Santos] is not famous,” acknowledged Susurkaev. “He’s a good fighter, maybe better than Bo Nickal. I still want big names, someone famous. Now I don’t have interest after this fight to fight with Bo Nickal. I think he’s scared of me. I want to fight Roman Dolidze, Marvin Vettori. Top 15, top 20, I’m ready. And I hope they will give me [that], after this fight. I hope.”

Susurkaev, who has already updated his social media to show his record as 12-0 in advance of his twelfth fight, believes he can crack the top 15 after UFC 328. A fight with Dolidze seems to have his eye in particular. “I saw Dolidze’s 14 number, I beat him, I will be 14. Next fight, we can also fight Fluffy [Anthony Hernandez] or someone like this.”

Another middleweight up-and-comer on the UFC 328 card is Ateba Gautier. It’s a fight Baisangur Susurkaev feels would go his way with ease.

“I think it’s easy money for me. He has only hands. You don’t need to laugh, brother, I’m serious,” he stated. “Like these guys who have only punches, only one round. After one round, you can see in his last fight, after one round he’s a very bad opponent. He showed us second and third round, very bad. He was tired. He did nothing and was very tired. It’s not about me. If he gets tired, I’ll kill him. It’s easy money for me I think.”

While he’s willing to fight Gautier, Susurkaev noted “he’s not a big name. Not 15 or 20. If they want to give me a fight with him, no problem.”

Susurkaev has only been to a decision once, and is now looking at the potential of a $100,000 post-fight bonus, the UFC having doubled the bonus amount this year. That, he admitted, is added motivation for get the job done early.

“Of course, 100K is big motivation. I had before, motivation to finish my opponent. Now it’s more than before, and I will try every second. Every moment, I’m looking for a finish.”

Watch the full UFC 328 media day appearance by Baisangur Susurkaev above.

The post Baisangur Susurkaev Feels He Can Crack Top 15 Soon appeared first on Cageside Press.

The Dominican fighter sits on a three-fight win streak, and is coming off a knockout finish of Derrick Lewis. The towering Volkov, six foot seven, enters off a win over Jailton Almeida and is never far from a title fight.

“Volkov is a very intelligent fighter, somebody that you have to be very cautious with, somebody that’s faced other fighters, he’s faced so much competition so you’ve seen what he offers,” Cortes-Acosta (17-2) said during Wednesday’s UFC 328 media day, speaking with journalists including Cageside Press. “He’s somebody that smartly avoids confrontation, so you have to take the confrontation up to him, take it up to him to win.”

Getting the win is one thing, but doing it in style also matters to “Salsa Boy.” As he put it, via translator, “the win is important, but the way you get the win is just as important. I’ve always been a fighter with a lot of volume, and it’s going to be no different this Saturday. That’s what I need to do, that’s what I’ve done, that’s what I need to do and that’s what I’m going to do on Saturday to finish this fast.”

Cortes-Acosta believes a win at UFC 328 could even land him a title shot, depending on how the heavyweight division plays out over the next few weeks. Champ Tom Aspinall is almost ready to return from injury. Ciryl Gane, whose eye pokes left Aspinall on the sidelines, is fighting Alex Pereira for an interim belt at the White House in June. Josh Hokit, a rising star at heavyweight, fights Derrick Lewis on that same Freedom 250 card.

“I think that after the fight that we had between Volkov and Gane from before, consider the result of that fight [a controversial decision], and consider what Tom said, he wants to wait for the winner of this fight for the interim title. Because of the result of the fight, and Volkov having beaten Ciryl, I don’t think they want to make that fight again,” suggested Cortes-Acosta. “So I do think that I should be ready for a fight, and I could be fighting for the title if all the chips fall [in the right place].”

A former pitcher, Cortes-Acosta has said the punch he knocked down Derrick Lewis with was a change-up. What will he knock down Volkov with? “It’s going to be a sinker,” he said with a laugh.

Watch the full UFC 328 media day appearance by Waldo Cortes-Acosta above.

The post UFC 328’s Waldo Cortes-Acosta: How You Win As Important As Winning Itself appeared first on Cageside Press.

Announced by the promotion on Wednesday, the Austin, Texas card on July 18, 2026 at Moody Center will be headlined by champ Costello van Steenis (18-3) taking on Johnny Eblen (17-1) for the second time.

The pair’s first meeting saw van Steenis claim gold, sinking in a rear-naked choke to win via submission late in the fifth and final round. Since that July meeting, van Steenis successfully defended his title against Fabian Edwards, a longtime contender in Bellator and the PFL who won the promotion’s World Tournament last year.

Eblen, who suffered his first and only loss against van Steenis last July, bounced back at the end of March with a submission win against UFC veteran and Ultimate Fighter winner Bryan Battle. Eblen, an American Top Team standout, holds notable victories over Gegard Mousasi, Impa Kasanganay, Fabian Edwards, and others.

Winning the Bellator MMA middleweight title in 2022, he defended it three times before facing van Steenis for the inaugural PFL middleweight championship last year.

“This is the fight that fans have been asking for since the moment Costello secured the rear-naked choke in the final seconds of their first world championship fight,” said PFL CEO John Martin in a press release issued on Wednesday. “There were a lot of opinions about how that fight ended, and both fighters have something to prove. Now we have a massive rematch with everything on the line, validation for The Spaniard, or redemption for Pressure. I can’t wait to see how it plays out on July 18.”

No other fights have been announced for PFL Austin thus far.

The post Costello van Steenis vs. Johnny Eblen 2 Booked for PFL Austin appeared first on Cageside Press.

One year later, Stephens is back, this time in a fight with a fellow veteran in King Green.

Speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press during the UFC 328 media day, “Lil Heathen” shed some insight on how the booking came together.

“After my last fight, I couldn’t sleep, and I hit up Dana like a day or two later, and I was just like ‘man, give me another opportunity. Give me Mike Chandler, give my somebody my age, somebody that is up there, that has got fights like me, not these young hungry killers on short notice,” revealed Stephens (29-22, 1NC). “Give me somebody and let me just prepare. That was the main thing.”

Regardless of who he trained with, be it one of the greats like Anderson Silva or Georges St-Pierre, Stephens said he had the time to prepare for the Jones fight, and wasn’t making excuses. So instead he asked for a fellow veteran.

“Let me fight someone my age, someone who’s actually down to fight, who’s been in the game, something like that. We asked for those guys.”

After Green’s last performance, Stephens hit up his manager, who asked the UFC for the fight. Now it’s set. And as for how Green has looked of late, “he looks great. Still got spring in his step still, still smooth as sh*t. That’s f*cking awesome. Then you go in and knock out a young, hungry contender. It’s match-ups, it’s timing.”

Stephens, who left the UFC in 2021 then went 1-2 for the PFL, never expected to return, he admitted on Wednesday. “I didn’t even think I’d be back in the UFC with stuff that had kind of happened. With my losing streak, the way I was performing. To pull myself out of bare-knuckle, out of the gutter. You ever see the moving The Ring? Like crawling myself out of the well, hunting people down to get back here.”

“I’m super-grateful, and obviously I’ve got the fans to thank for that because they’re still tuning into my fights, they like what they see,” he added.

Later, he’d suggest that “most people, they get canned from the UFC, they get fat, they f*cking retire, or they lose their mental health. And I’m not even joking, that’s not even funny, that’s just f*cking facts.”

“I have a big brother that’s looking down, Anthony Johnson. I’ve seen him do it, he got outside of UFC, moved up weight classes and he was just banging heads. Next thing you know, he’s banging on the UFC’s door again, they let him back and then he ends up fighting for a title. I kind of kept that inspiration.”

Antony “Rumble” Johnson fought from welterweight to light heavyweight in the UFC, with his first run lasting from 2007 to 2012. Struggles making weight saw him shown the door off a loss, but Johnson went on a tear outside the company, earning six straight victories prior to his return in 2014. In 2015 and again in 2017, he faced Daniel Cormier for the UFC light heavyweight championship. Johnson tragically passed away in 2022 while battling non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, but it’s clear Stephens is still inspired by “Rumble.”

As for what keeps Jeremy Stephens going after over 60 pro fights in multiple combat sports, it’s the ability “to adapt, to keep a growing mindset, to keep positivity,” he stated. “Even in the negative, to find something positive. I’m probably one of the most positive people you’ll ever meet, come across. I don’t accept ‘no,’ I believe in God, I have such strong faith even when people don’t see it. And then Charles Darwin: It’s not the strongest or the smartest, it’s the person willing to adapt to change.”

“I’m willing to adapt, to grow, to learn, to fail, to be humiliated, to go through sh*t to crawl out of the mud, and get what I feel like is certain in my heart and my mind, and that’s positivity and growing to be better every day.”

Watch the full UFC 328 media day appearance by Jeremy Stephens above.

The post UFC 328: Jeremy Stephens Cites Anthony “Rumble” Johnson As Inspiration appeared first on Cageside Press.

Entering UFC 328 Fight Week, he’s over 10 years sober, with a 16-month old baby girl. Sporting a “Girl Dad” cap at media day in Newark, New Jersey on Wednesday, Gordon (21-8, 1NC) explained to media outlets including Cageside Press that fatherhood has “taken all the pressure off me. It’s not about Jared anymore.”

While his wife used to suggest that Gordon wasn’t happy if fans weren’t cheering for him, now, “it’s taken everything off of me. It’s not about me anymore. No matter what happens, the pressure’s not on me, man. I could go, get paralyzed tomorrow and it doesn’t matter because I have move forward for my daughter.”

Gordon is set to face the veteran of UFC veterans in Jim Miller this Saturday at UFC 328. He’d been asking for a fight, telling his manager he was ready to go for weeks.

Then the call came as Gordon was getting in the shower. “Normally when he calls me, it’s for something good. And he was like ‘hey, Jim Miller in Newark,” and I was very happy.”

“Jim’s a great name, legend of the sport. Most UFC wins, most UFC fights. But come Saturday night, he’s just another guy.”

Miller has been out of action for a bit, as his teenage son was battling cancer. With his son winning that battle, Miller is back, and Gordon is expecting the Jim Miller of old.

“I don’t think his game plan is going to change from his other fights. I think he’s going to come out and do what he normally does, and that’s what I’m expecting,” suggested Gordon. “I think he’s going to come out hard. He’s in Jersey, he’s in Newark, his home state. I don’t know how many more fights he’s going to fight. I know he’s been through some though times recently, so he wants to get the win for his family, but like I said before that doesn’t matter. On Saturday, I don’t care about your family. I have my own family, I have a daughter who needs me. I’m expecting the best Jim, and I know that I’ll come out on top.”

Watch the full UFC 328 media day appearance by Jared Gordon above.

The post UFC 328: Jared Gordon Says Fatherhood Has Taken Pressure Off appeared first on Cageside Press.

The card headlines International Fight Week this July, and McGregor’s return has been heavily rumored to headline the event. Following UFC Winnipeg last month, Dana White told Cageside Press that “it’s looking good” in terms of McGregor’s return, though he didn’t have anything specific to announce.

Rumors have swirled for weeks, however, the McGregor and Holloway might meet for the second time. The pair faced off early in their respective UFC runs, with McGregor earning a decision win in their 2013 encounter.

Speaking to Paramount+ (h/t MMA Fighting), Holloway admitted that the fight is one he’d like back, though he didn’t confirm the rematch was happening. He didn’t deny it, on the other hand, saying “maybe” when asked if he’d appear on the IFW card.

As for the McGregor match-up, Holloway believes it makes sense.

The post Max Holloway on McGregor Match-Up Rumors: “I’d Love to Get Him Back” appeared first on Cageside Press.

The Azerbaijani is set to take on Manuel Torres in the main event of UFC Baku on June 27, 2026. Promotion officials announced the news on Tuesday.

The event takes place inside Azerbaijan’s National Gymnastics Arena.

Fiziev (13-5) defeated Ignacio Bahamondes as part of the UFC’s debut in Baku a year ago, then followed that up with a loss to Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 325 in Sydney, Australia. The 33-year old is 1-4 in his last five fights, though that also includes a pair of losses to Justin Gaethje, the current UFC interim lightweight champion.

Torres (17-3) is 5-1 in the UFC to date, and coming off back-to-back TKO victories over Grant Dawson and Drew Dober. His lone loss in the company came against Bahamondes, the last man Fiziev beat.

UFC officials have also confirmed a previously reported middleweight fight between Shara Bullet and Michel Pereira. UFC Baku on June 27 currently features the following reported match-ups:

• Rafael Fiziev vs. Manuel Torres
• Michał Oleksiejczuk vs. Abusupiyan Magomedov
• Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Michel Pereira
• Brunno Ferreira vs. Ikram Aliskerov
• Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Andrey Pulyaev
• Marvin Vettori vs. Ismail Naurdiev
• Asu Almabayev vs. Charles Johnson
• Julius Walker vs. Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev
• Bekzat Almakhan vs. Jean Matsumoto

The post Fiziev vs. Torres Headlines UFC Baku appeared first on Cageside Press.