Two Olympic gold medallists were in talks to compete at UFC White House card, but fights collapsed

The UFC White House card fell short of expectations when it was announced on Saturday night.

While a six-fight show topped by Ilia Topuria vs Justin Gaethje and chief supported by Alex Pereira vs Ciryl Gane, is in itself a decent event, it failed to live up to Dana White‘s lofty billing.

The UFC president had promised fans the “greatest fight card ever assembled”, but with no Conor McGregor or Jon Jones, the overriding feeling among supporters is one of bitter disappointment.

Of course, UFC brass had their work cut out in meeting the high bar set by White, and there were plenty of stumbling blocks along the way.

24 hours before the card was confirmed, White revealed that a fight had fallen through.

He stopped short of disclosing the bout due to the “weird circumstances” surrounding it.

And now, esteemed MMA journalist Ariel Helwani has reported that Gable Steveson’s UFC debut and a rescheuled super fight between Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes were also supposed to land on the one of a kind event.

“Kayla should have been on the card, but she’s just not 100 per cent, and that’s a bummer,” Helwani said.

“And Gable Steveson, I was told that was discussed to have him debut on this card, two Olympic gold medallists.

“He’s not on the card. That would have been kind of a great deal.”

Two-time Olympic judo gold medallist Harrison was initially set to defend her UFC bantamweight title against consensus GWOAT Nunes at UFC 324 in January.

However, Harrison was forced to pull out 10 days before the bout after herniating a disc in her neck.

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Harrison has since undergone surgery, but her recovery timeline didn’t line up with the June 14 date.

The circumstances surrounding the collapse of Steveson’s fight are less clear.

Steveson transitioned to MMA last year after a decorated wrestling career that included two NCAA Division I titles and a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

He is considered by many to be the sport’s most exciting heavyweight prospect and currently boasts an unbeaten 3-0 record, with all three wins coming inside the opening stanza.

Steveson had called for a spot on the UFC White House bill and told ESPN last month that he had been in regular contact with MMA’s premier promotion over a long-term deal.

There had been no updates on the situation until Helwani’s revelation on Saturday.

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