The UFC has introduced the 'Freedom 250' belt for champions at the upcoming White House event. The event features a lightweight title fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje, along with a heavyweight bout between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane.
The four men at the top of the Ultimate Fighting Championship White House card billing can win a two-of-a-kind prize.
On Wednesday, the promotion brought the four headliners of the UFC White House event to the White House for some staredowns, interviews and meet-and-greets with the president. President Donald Trump showed off mockup images of the arena that will be constructed specifically for the event. Additionally, he revealed that there will be custom belts up for grabs.
Atop the billing is a unified lightweight championship pairing between Georgian champ Ilia Topuria and American interim titleholder Justin Gaethje. In the co-main attraction, Brazilian former two-division champion Alex Pereira will move up to challenge French ex-interim titlist Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight strap. All four men were in attendance clad in suits for the big day. Per the reveals, both newly crowned champions will be taking home a specially created gold belt for this event alone.
The center of the one-off championship belt will still have the letters UFC, albeit in silver and not gold. Surrounding those letters will be the American flag design, with the letters USA vertically flanking either side. Three silver stars will be next to each side of the USA lettering. Above the UFC logo will be a gold-outlined silver star, with golden letters of 250 symbolizing the 250 years of American independence. This event will be held on Sunday, June 14, the date of Trumpās 80th birthday, and not Saturday, July 4, the traditional day of the week for a major UFC card and Independence Day.
The year, written in roman numeralsāMDCC LXXVI for 1776, the date the U.S. signed the Declaration of Independenceāis in black below the UFC logo, along with another gold-outlined silver star. Surrounding the logos will be an octagonally arranged series of diamonds around the outer edge, with small flags on each corner. Silver and gold alternate on the edge, followed by a red leather boundary and the standard black leather wrap for the belt itself. The sides also have been modified to match the center design.
The Freedom 250 belt is a custom championship belt featuring the UFC logo, American flag design, and symbols representing 250 years of American independence.
The UFC White House event is scheduled for Sunday, June 14, coinciding with President Trump's 80th birthday.
The main fighters competing for the Freedom 250 belt are Ilia Topuria, Justin Gaethje, Alex Pereira, and Ciryl Gane.
Crystal Palace secured their first-ever European final with a 2-1 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk, winning 5-2 on aggregate in the Conference League semi-finals. They will face Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig.
Bayern Munich has started discussions with Newcastle about signing Anthony Gordon this summer.
See every story in Sports ā including breaking news and analysis.