Dana White explains lack of women’s matches on the UFC Freedom 250 White House card

May 26, 2026 - 13:15

With less than a month left for the much-awaited UFC Freedom 250 event at White House, UFC President Dana White, together with the USA President Donald Trump, appeared for an interview with Time.

Speaking with TIME’s Sean Gregory ahead of the upcoming UFC Freedom 250 event, White and Trump opened up about the event and the match card. UFC’s first contracted female fighter, Ronda Rousey, is no longer associated with the promotion and has openly been critical of it. Despite UFC’s history of promoting talented female fighters like Rousey and its current list of talented women fighters, none were given a place at the Freedom 250 match card.

When asked about it, White responded, “We did try to make a women’s fight. We couldn’t get it done.” Previously, it was rumored that a title bout between Zhang Weili of China and Mackenzie Dern was planned. The International fight was expected to increase the international viewership of the event; unfortunately, according to White, Zhang Weili is currently taking time off from fighting.

He further opened up about the execution of the historic event. “Now we go in and start building all the bells and whistles…We’ve got to get it all dialed in, and then we have to execute that night. We’re putting on the most historic sporting event in history, and now we have to deliver. We will absolutely, positively deliver.”

In the same interview, Donald Trump also responded to Joe Rogan’s “gimmick” comments regarding Freedom 250. “At first I thought, ‘That’s not nice,’…And then I realized, it is a gimmick. Life is a gimmick, if you think about it, right? But it’s a good gimmick. It’s something that will never happen again. Nobody will ever have the privilege of doing something like this in front of the White House. It’s going to be very unique. It’s going to be amazing. I think it’s great for America, frankly.”