The historic UFC Freedom 250 on the White House South Lawn ended in absolute chaos and a historic changing of the guard. In a night designed to crown the undisputed lightweight division king, it was the massive underdog, Justin Gaethje, who pulled off an all-time upset, physically breaking Ilia Topuria and forcing the proud champion’s team to call it quits after four rounds of what was a brutal war.

The loss snaps a year-long layoff for Topuria, who had been sidelined due to out-of-the-octagon issues and a highly publicised, messy divorce. So, heading into the fight, many expected ‘El Matador’ to walk away with the belt still around his waist, especially after the build-up to the fight took an unexpectedly dark and personal turn, with the usually soft-spoken Justin Gaethje using Topuria’s family issues as fuel for unusual trash talk.

However, fate had other plans as the American challenger ended up getting his hands raised in front of the elite White House crowd as well as the 100,000-plus fans packed into the neighbouring Ellipse fanzone.

‘El Matador’ had heavily tempted fate the night before, holding a star-studded party with boxing legend Oleksandr Usyk, while Tyson Fury watched from cageside on fight day. However, within the cage, the celebration swiftly turned into a horror flick.

Khabib Nurmagomedov once claimed that ‘The Highlight’ hits harder than anybody else in combat sports.

“[Justin Gaethje] hit like a truck,” Nurmagomedov said on Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson back in August 2021. “Nobody hit me harder than Justin Gaethje. His kick, his punch, his left hook, right hook, right uppercut.”

Well, the challenger made sure that he lived up to the expectations as he transformed Ilia Topuria’s face into a swollen, gory mess by the end of the fourth round.

The fight itself was a brutal, back-and-forth drama in which both guys proved they got metal chins before structural damage eventually took control. After a fierce first round in which ‘The Highlight’ marked Topuria’s eye with crisp jabs and uppercuts, the champion bounced back in the second round.

‘El Matador’ dropped the 37-year-old with a crushing liver shot before dominating the rest of the frame from full mount with hunting armbars. But the momentum again switched dramatically in the third. With both men exhausted from the D.C. humidity, ‘The Highlight’ connected a massive right hand out of nowhere, rocking Ilia Topuria from his senses.

Despite being too fatigued to lock in a finishing choke after a flying knee, Justin Gaethje structurally demolished the champion, causing swelling around both orbital bones. By the beginning of the fourth round, ringside doctors aggressively tried to call off the bout owing to the catastrophic swelling around Ilia Topuria’s eye.

‘El Matador’ desperately pleaded with referee Marc Goddard to keep the fight going, and he briefly regained momentum with a late takedown, but Gaethje shut down the offense with a nasty sprawl and a devastating knee to the body moments before the horn.

Realizing that at this point, Ilia Topuria was simply taking life-altering punishment with zero visibility in one of his eyes, the Spanish-Georgian’s corner made the agonizing decision to throw in the towel before the final round could begin.

But while many surely expected it to be the bloody battle that it truly turned out to be, the ending surely left a sour aftertaste for fans online.

Fight fans go all out on Ilia Topuria

The moment the broadcast showed Ilia Topuria slumped on his stool, not stepping out for the fifth round, the internet unleashed an avalanche of criticism, showing no mercy to the famously arrogant former champion.

As soon as the official decision was announced, fans debated whether Topuria’s legacy could ever recover from such a humiliating defeat. And it looks like the MMA world was completely disgusted by the surrender. Some criticised the former champion’s competitive spirit, writing, “What an embarrassment of a fighter,” and “Such an s—– way to end the fight.”

More chimed in with some brutal words on the contrast between the Spanish-Georgian’s aggressive pre-fight trash talk and his eventual submission. A user tweeted, “Quitting against 40 year old gaethje🤣. Quitting on the stool in front of the white house is insane. Ilia will never be an all time great.”

Another added, “All that trash talk from Topuria just to fucking quit on the stool 😂😂. After all that talk Justin beat that a– and made him quit. What a p—-!”

On the other hand, fight fans were absolutely terrified by Justin Gaethje’s physical violence against ‘El Matador.’ After all, Ilia Topuria’s facial structure had totally changed by the fourth round, and many fans felt the corner intervention was a medical necessity.

“Bro rearranged Ilia’s entire face, s— is f—— NUTS,” one fan wrote. Another added, “Damn Justin Gaethje DESTROYED Ilia Topuria FACE!”

Others simply enjoyed watching the division’s most outspoken elite be completely humbled on a historic night. The incredible upset sent shockwaves over social media, with many fans praising the challenger’s resurgence.

“Justin beat the s— out of Topuria. I was getting tired of Topuria and his arrogance,” one spectator noted. Another confidently concluded, “Topuria might have two orbital eye fractures 😳 Gaethje is scary.”

As the dust settles, it is Justin Gaethje who stands at the top of the lightweight division following one of the most unexpected victories in UFC history, while Ilia Topuria now faces the toughest comeback challenge of his career.