Dana White Shares Ilia Topuria Injury Update After UFC Freedom 250 Loss
Ilia Topuria entered UFC Freedom 250 with the UFC Lightweight Championship and undefeated, but left without his title, bloodied up, beaten, and headed to a hospital.
He headlined a massive event on the White House South Lawn, featuring a custom-built outdoor set with an octagon, lights, pyrotechnics, and live musicians singing and playing the fighters’ entrance music.
Justin Gaethje came into Sunday night’s main event fight determined, striking often and landing damaging kicks and punches on Topuria throughout four rounds of their five-round fight.
Topuria became visibly bloodied on his face from the first round, and it kept getting worse as the rounds continued. Someone from his corner called for an end to the fight before the fifth round could begin.
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“Yeah, Ilia’s in the hospital. He’s busted up. I’m not a doctor, but his eye looks like he probably has a broken orbital bone. I don’t know that. That’s not a fact, but I’m just assuming. My plans for him are to go home and rest and recover, take his time. Tonight was a rough night for him. I just want to make sure he’s healthy and good,” UFC CEO Dana White said at a post-event media session.
Video footage surfaced online from the event, showing Topuria being helped out of the cage and leaving the venue after his tough loss. Additional photos online showed him being transported on a cart.
Other images and videos emerged on social media, including a post from ESPN FC, which showed Topuria’s brutally beaten and bloody face from the fight. This was one that many didn’t expect, due to Gaethje being such an underdog against the undefeated Topuria.
From watching this thrilling fight, Gaethje clearly looked like the more prepared and aggressive of the two fighters from the start. In addition to Gaethje having a height advantage, Topuria appeared to be waiting too much for the right moments to attack, got tired out, and was badly hurt, which cost him.
He’ll be back, but based on the way he looked during the match and immediately leaving the octagon, it will be a while for Topuria to recover for his next UFC fight.
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This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 7:24 AM.