Dana White Lands TIME Cover, Reveals Dern Vs Zhang Fell Through for UFC Freedom 250

Dana White graces the cover of TIME Magazine. The story, by Sean Gregory, which published Monday unveils much about how the UFC Freedom 250 card was made, whom it is financially killing, and what almost made the card. The latter was probably not taken from the final product of the previous design: In addition to two title fights, Colby Covington (16-5 MMA) vs. Mackenze Dern (16-5 MMA) for the women's strawweight championship (25 4 MMA) was on the four fight main card, and that's what Dana White wanted. Fight Zhang (25 4 MMA) could not book wrestling already. The titleholder wants to take a break.

"We did try to make a women's fight," Dana told TIME. "We couldn't get it done."

A Third Championship Fight Was Close

Dern won the strawweight strap last year by defeating Virna Jandiroba. Zhang relinquished her title after moving up to flyweight to face Valentina Shevchenko. A fight between the two of them would’ve seen UFC 250: Freedom 250 boast three title fights, something the UFC itself rarely even does. It also would’ve seen one of the biggest stylistic contrasts in a championship fight in years. Dern’s 8 submission wins are the most of any active UFC fighter. Zhang is a former two time champion and held the belt for a combined three years. The matchup is a no brainer. The fact that Dana wanted it to happen specifically for the White House card lets you know how much the UFC was looking forward to that last minute change.

Instead, it didn’t work out because Zhang wants more time off. The Chinese fighter Dana hoped to get on the card in Sean Soriano didn’t come through, finding six weeks too little notice for a fight. With the Freedom 250 at two: Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje for the lightweight belt and Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane for interim heavyweight strap.

The Price Tag Is Wild

The TIME piece also dropped some numbers that are hard to ignore. UFC Freedom 250 is projected to cost more than $60 million to produce. TKO Group Holdings, the UFC's parent company, is expected to take a net loss of roughly $30 million on the event.

Dana White has said the event will not use any taxpayer money. Around 4,300 people will be in attendance on the South Lawn with another 85,000 watching on screens at the Ellipse.

Basically the UFC is eating a massive financial hit to put on a show that Dana has called the biggest event in the company's history. Whether that investment pays off in long term brand value is a conversation for after June 14.

Not America vs the World

One thing Dana pushed back on in the interview is the idea that Freedom 250 was built as some kind of "America versus the world" card. He said it was actually the opposite. The headliner features Topuria, who was born in Germany to Georgian parents and fights out of Spain. Gane is from France. Pereira is Brazilian. The card has fighters from Canada, Colombia, and multiple other countries.

"Everybody thought that I was going to build a card, America versus the world," Dana told TIME. "We did the exact opposite."

Daukaus and Nickal are the most American fight when it comes to background, but even those two have different storylines attached besides just nationality. Chandler vs Ruffy is another one where both fighters have international appeal. Ruffy is out of Brazil and has been one of the best new faces in the lightweight division this year. The card is honestly filled with names that bring in a global audience more than just a domestic one.

The Full Card

The event will be streamed live on Paramount+ on June 14 from the White House South Lawn in Washington, D.C.

Main Card (Paramount+)