UFC White House: Five ways to improve Dana White’s announced ‘Freedom 250’ card

While speculation over the UFC White House card is over, there’s still plenty to talk about.

Dana White announced the White House card Yesterday, with several graphics showing the six-fight line-up for June 14.

A deleted tease from White already showed fans that there would be two title fights topping the bill.

Without drastically redesigning the event as a dream card from top to bottom, here are five changes that could be made to improve the card overall.

Housekeeping notes

It would be easy to make wholesale changes to this card by getting Jon Jones, Conor McGregor, and several Russian stars on the card, but that’s not the intention here.

Obviously doing that would make it more interesting but it’s been made clear why some of those things aren’t happening on June 14, so let’s keep it that way.

1. Have Nate Diaz or Jorge Masvidal fight literally anybody but preferably each other

One of the reasons why the card’s announcement felt underwhelming to some is a lack of surprises, with Jon Jones’ admission not counting.

There may have been a lot of talk about Jorge Masvidal or Nate Diaz fighting again but seeing them on this card, making their returns, would’ve added something extra.

With McGregor, Jones, Ronda Rousey, and Brock Lesnar out of the equation, either of the two men that fought for the inaugural BMF belt could’ve brought some additional star power to the event.

2. Get Gable Steveson a contract

Gable Steveson suggested that he’d call for a UFC White House spot to make his Octagon debut if everything went according to plan in his third pro fight.

Some of the matchups on this card aren’t necessarily bad but they lack a sense of intrigue that having the biggest prospect in the sport make the walk would bring.

For example, Diego Lopes taking on Steve Garcia is a very fun matchup that seems likely to produce a finish or a featherweight barnburner.

That being said, there’s no doubt that it would make more sense to put this spotlight on Steveson when this clash at 145 pounds is going to deliver just as much excitement regardless of where it takes place.

3. Sean O’Malley vs Cory Sandhagen was there for the taking

Aiemann Zahabi has been overlooked by many at bantamweight so it’s great for him to get a huge opportunity against Sean O’Malley.

That being said, we’ve still not seen a matchup that is maybe one of the best that the promotion could put together right now.

Pitting O’Malley against Cory Sandhagen may be seen as a tougher fight for ‘Suga’ but you have the benefit of an American getting his hand raised regardless of how the matchup goes.

4. Where’s Derrick Lewis?

Advocating for more UFC heavyweight fights in 2026 is an uphill battle but even after a strange loss, it makes absolute sense to have Derrick Lewis on this card.

‘The Black Beast’ seemed like an obvious candidate thanks to his knockout record and his relationship with Donald Trump.

Josh Hokit may be booked to face Curtis Blaydes and would have caused the promotion’s PR some issues ahead of the event but you could’ve even had that matchup set up to elevate him at the same time.

5. Book Bo Nickal a bigger name

The UFC may have some reservations about pushing Bo Nickal too fast after his loss to Reinier de Ridder last year.

A matchup with Kyle Daukaus isn’t bad, it just doesn’t jump off the page in the way that so many other fights that could have been in this spot would.

If the promotion is booking Nickal for this card regardless, a matchup with Jared Cannonier at least would have created some more intrigue.

It’s not surprising that the card is showcasing one of the roster’s most promising American talents but on it feels like this matchup could easily be brushed over even on a six-fight bill.