UFC Freedom 250: Topuria vs. Gaethje picks and predictions

See who we think will win this weekend at the damn White House.

Well, the day many of us have been dreading finally arrives on Sunday. It’s the Akira moment of the UFC and Donald Trump’s symbiotic relationship. UFC Freedom 250 comes to us from the White House lawn on Sunday (lawsuits, lightning strikes and gnat swarms notwithstanding).

If you’re like me, it’s hard to get excited for the spectacle that awaits us. The production is going to be filled with bizarre bullshit and there will be a camera on Trump for every second he manages to keep his rheumy eyes open.

The top two fights are pretty good, when viewed in a vacuum. The main event is Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje in a lightweight reunification bout. The co-main is Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title.

The rest of the card is good, but nothing special. We’ve got Sean O’Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi, Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis, Mauricio Ruffy vs. Michael Chandler, Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus and Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia.

We’ve made our picks for the fights below. Scroll down and see who we think is going to get their hand raised on the White House ;awn.

Last week we all did pretty good. Steph did the best, though. She killed it with an 11-1 record. Miguel also did well, taking the top spot from me (since I missed on my lock pick — Fares Ziam).

Leader board

UFC Freedom 250 picks and predictions

Ilia Topuria (-520) vs. Justin Gaethje (+390)

Miguel Class: I think nearly everyone I’ve talked to about this fight has the same general feeling. Gaethje seems to be in the part of his career where he is regressing, as evidenced by a horrendously sloppy fight with Paddy Pimblett, while we’re all not sure if we’ve even seen Topuria’s ceiling yet. That, plus the fact that Gaethje doesn’t have a style that can keep him out of danger for extended periods of time, leads to an overwhelming feeling that it won’t take long for the American to suffer the same fate as Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway, and Alexander Volkanovski.