Dana White adds fight to White House card during UFC 327 as fans go wild
A heavyweight bout between Derrick Lewis and Josh Hokit has been added to the UFC White House card.
UFC CEO Dana White revealed during UFC 327 that after a conversation with US President Donald Trump, Lewis vs Hokit was added to the historic show as its seventh bout.
Hokit had just defeated No. 5-ranked heavyweight Curtis Blaydes in an epic bloodbath on the main card of UFC 327, as White revealed the news on his Instagram.
“I called Derrick Lewis and said, ‘Derrick, the President just asked me why you’re not on the card,” White explained.
“Do you wanna fight on the White House card?’ And [Lewis] goes, ‘Of course I do. Tell the President, thank you, I want to do it.
“Then the Hokit fight plays out, he beats the No. 5-ranked guy in the world and Joe Rogan says, ‘Is there still room on the White House card?’
“I went back and talked to [Hokit]. Hokit vs Derrick Lewis was just added to the White House card in the last 10 minutes.
“President Trump built one half of that fight, and Rogan built the other half.
“Both guys have accepted and agreed to the fight, so we’re adding one more to the White House.”
The card, officially billed as UFC Freedom 250, is headlined by a lightweight title unification bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje.
It was also revealed during the Miami broadcast on Saturday that bonuses will be upped to a whopping $1million for the event.
Lewis and Hokit join Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane as the other two heavyweights on the card, which takes place on Trump’s 80th birthday on June 14.
New UFC White House card
- MAIN EVENT: Ilia Topuria vs Justin Gaethje – UFC Lightweight title
- CO-MAIN EVENT: Alex Pereira vs Ciryl Gane – interim UFC Heavyweight title
- Sean O’Malley vs Aiemann Zahabi – Bantamweight
- Derrick Lewis vs Josh Hokit – Heavyweight
- Mauricio Ruffy vs Michael Chandler – Lightweight
- Bo Nickal vs Kyle Daukaus – Middleweight
- Diego Lopes vs Steve Garcia – Featherweight
Pereira fights Gane for the interim belt at heavyweight in the co-main event.
Sean O’Malley, Michael Chandler and Diego Lopes also feature.
Responding to the news on X, one fan said: “Holy f***ing s***. Dana White cooked with that fight.”
Another added: “That press conference is gonna be wild as well…”
A third wrote: “Finally, Dana listens to the fans!”
While another said: “Oh my entertainment…”
UFC Schedule
For all the upcoming fights and results this year, check out talkSPORT.com’s UFC schedule.
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