Dana White appears on the cover of TIME Magazine. White explains that a planned women’s fight for UFC Freedom 250 at the White House did not get booked. The matchup was Mackenzie Dern vs. Weili Zhang, which would have added a third title fight to the card. White says the fight fell through because Zhang is taking time off from fighting. Dern and Zhang have not fought in 2026 so far. White also previously said one planned bout fell out after he arrived for a live stream, and he added that a seventh bout was later added featuring Derrick Lewis vs. Josh Hokit after Donald Trump questioned Lewis’s absence.
""We did try to make a women's fight. We couldn't get it done," White said of the White House card, revealing to TIME that the fight in question was Dern vs. Zhang. Mackenzie captured the women's strawweight title against Virna Jandiroba last year, after Zhang vacated her belt for a failed bid to win gold at 125lbs opposite Valentina Shevchenko."
"Per White, the reason the fight didn't get booked was that Zhang is taking time off from fighting. Neither Weili Zhang, nor Mackenzie Dern, have fought fought in 2026 thus far. UFC Freedom 250 at the White House takes place on June 14."
"It's unclear as to whether Dern vs. Zhang was the fight White was alluding to back in March when he revealed that one planned bout for the White House event had fallen through. "One of the fights literally just fell out when I walked in here. I think Hunter [Campbell] killed himself," White deadpanned on a live stream with Nina-Marie Daniele."
"Although originally announced with just six fights, a seventh featuring heavyweight Derrick Lewis taking on Josh Hokit was added weeks back, after U.S. President Donald Trump questioned why Lewis, one of his favorite fighters, wasn't on the card."
Read at Cageside Press
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