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White House Fight Gets $1 M Bonus, Hokit EjectedWhite House Fight Gets $1 M Bonus, Hokit Ejected

5/9/2026

Summary

Hokit Ejected

Josh Hokit was escorted out of the press conference after insulting Derrick Lewis, Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria, who then threw a water bottle at him.
Dana White announced Crypto.com will provide $1,000,000 in bonuses for the June 14 White House fight.
The June 14 Washington, D.C. card features a lightweight title unification bout (Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje) and an interim heavyweight title fight (Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane).

Summary

White Names Backup

Dana White named Arman Tsarukyan the backup for the Topuria-Gaethje lightweight title fight.
White announced the backup on a Kick stream with Nina Drama.
Tsarukyan extended his win streak by submitting Dan Hooker at UFC Qatar after missing UFC 311.
He will wrestle in RAF bouts on May 30 versus Keelon Jimison and June 13 versus Tony Ferguson.
The Freedom 250 press conference is set for May 8 at Newark’s Prudential Center, streamed on Paramount+ and YouTube.

History

Historical Context

UFC 100 in July 2009 drew 1.6 million PPV buys and offered $1 million bonuses to Brock Lesnar and Georges St-Pierre. The same high-stakes incentive style returned in June 2024 when Dana White announced a $1 million Crypto.com bonus pool for the Washington, D.C. card, echoing the significant historic 2009 model and the Crypto.com fan-bonus program introduced at UFC 273.

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Hokit Ejected

Josh Hokit was escorted out of the press conference after insulting Derrick Lewis, Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria, who then threw a water bottle at him.
Dana White announced Crypto.com will provide $1,000,000 in bonuses for the June 14 White House fight.
The June 14 Washington, D.C. card features a lightweight title unification bout (Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje) and an interim heavyweight title fight (Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane).

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