Alongside the two title fights, there’s also a direct path to a championship opportunity up for grabs.
Later this summer, the UFC is set to bring its Octagon to Washington D.C. for a special event held right on the White House lawn.
The main card is topped by two championship bouts on June 14. Alex Pereira steps up to heavyweight to take on Ciryl Gane for the interim title, while Ilia Topuria looks to unify the lightweight belts against Justin Gaethje.
Though there aren’t any other title fights on the bill, a couple of fighters will have the chance to make their case for a future shot at gold once UFC White House wraps up.
The last bout before the two main title fights at UFC White House will feature former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley taking on Aiemann Zahabi.
Zahabi was chosen over Cory Sandhagen, who has accused O’Malley of avoiding their matchup.
Zahabi, who’s won seven straight, spoke at a Q&A before UFC Winnipeg and explained how the fight came together. He also confirmed it’s been designated as a title eliminator.
“Hunter Campbell called my brother Firas and asked how he thinks the fight would go, me versus Sean O’Malley,” Zahabi said.
“He said, ‘It’s gonna be fireworks. They both fight as best they can and they both show out every time they get a chance to fight in the Octagon.’
“We didn’t get confirmation, so I didn’t know that I had got it officially,” he continued. “I didn’t know if it was gonna be me versus Sean O’Malley at the White House or Cory Sandhagen.
“We find out just like everybody else. And they added that it was a title eliminator. So if I beat Sean O’Malley, I’m gonna be fighting Petr Yan for the title.”
Zahabi added that there wasn’t immediate confirmation, so he was initially unsure if it would be him or Sandhagen facing O’Malley at the White House event.
The June 14 card did recently extend with the addition of Josh Hokit’s heavyweight fight against Derrick Lewis.
Dana White has stated that, unless President Trump makes another request, no further changes will be made to an already stacked lineup.
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