European star Ilia Topuria living ‘American dream’ as UFC White House headliner By Scott Fontana Published May 11, 2026, 10:39 p.m. ET Ilia Topuria scores a first-round TKO win over Charles Oliveira to win the vacant lightweight championship at UFC 317 on June 28, 2025. Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC UFC crowds within the borders of this nation love themselves a hearty “U-S-A” chant.
When it’s an American against anyone not native to the United States, it’s not hard to tell where loyalties lie.
That’s of no concern to European superstar Ilia Topuria, even in a lightweight title unification matchup against Arizona native Justin Gaethje on the South Lawn of the White House.
President Trump shakes hands with UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria as he holds an event with fighters in the Oval Office on May 6. REUTERS The undefeated two-division champion from across the Atlantic reckons he’s “always felt very loved in this country,” and he isn’t expecting anything different on June 14 when he headlines the UFC’s one-of-a-kind Freedom 250 event tied to this country’s milestone of independence.
