MMA analyst Luke Thomas shared his initial reaction to the full UFC Freedom 250 card announcement. In a recent YouTube video, he offered a breakdown of what the event delivers and, perhaps more tellingly, what it does not.
Thomas opened by addressing the branding of the event itself. “They’re calling it the UFC Freedom 250 card. Very, very funny to me that they’re calling it the Freedom 250 card, attaching it to the birthday of the United States, even though it’s on Trump’s birthday on the 14th of June. Also very funny to call it a freedom card while our civil liberties are under assault.”
On the absence of Jon Jones, Thomas was direct: “There was some suggestion by Ariel Helwani. And again, if he’s saying it, he had reason to say it. I worked with the guy. I’m telling you, if he’s saying it, it’s true. But I just want to point out it didn’t end up happening.” He added, “Your guess truly is as good as mine.”
Thomas also noted the absence of a women’s title match. “There were some rumors that you were going to get Kayla Harrison versus Amanda Nunes for the UFC women’s bantamweight title. Obviously, that’s not going to happen as well. It’s only men on this card.”
Regarding the main event between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje, Thomas offered measured praise.
“I know people were talking like, ‘Oh, you can’t have an American get stretched on the White House lawn.’ Yes, you can. There’s absolutely no connection historically to mixed martial arts and, you know, the patriotic trimmings generally.” He continued, “Is it the best thing ever if an American gets stretched in the main event for UFC White House or UFC Freedom 250? No, it’s not like the best thing, but it’s not the worst thing either.”
On the co-main event, Thomas was notably enthusiastic. “Of all the matches, it’s the one that doesn’t have the American in it that I kind of like the most. I like this bout. Pereira versus Gane at heavyweight. Fun little strikers matchup.”
He was less complimentary about the undercard selections. “I don’t know if some of these names, Zahabi and Daucas and Garcia. I don’t know if these are the kinds of names that get people out of their seat.” On Sean O’Malley versus Merab Dvalishvili, he said plainly, “This one does not have a ton of sizzle on it.”
Thomas closed with an assessment of where the UFC currently stands as a promotional entity. “I think this is just where the UFC is. They didn’t turn this card into a black hole that everything gets sucked into it from before and afterwards. Did they make the most exciting calls they could have made? No. But they made some pretty sensible ones here.”
His final verdict landed somewhere in the middle. “The co-main event is really cool and the main event should at least be fun. The rest of these matches, they’re okay. It’s fine.”
