UFC star claims 17 fighters were 'banned' from competing on White House card
Former UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili appears to have confirmed a number fighters were prevented from appearing on the White House card.
In just a matter of weeks, the UFC will host perhaps the biggest event in the history of the combat sports organisation as a stacked card will take place on The White House South Lawn in Washington DC.
The 'UFC Freedom 250: The White House' event is set to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States declaring independence, with Ilia Topuria set to defend his lightweight against interim champion Justin Gaethje in the main event.
Former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will look to make history and become the first-ever three weight champion in the co-main event as he faces Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title.
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Alongside Gaethje, several over notable American fighters will feature throughout the card including former bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley, Michael Chandler, Derrick Lewis, Bo Nickal and the controversial Josh Hokit.
READ MORE: 'We couldn't' - Dana White reveals the one fight he failed to make for UFC White House card
In the build-up to the fight card being announced several other names were tipped to feature, including former bantamweight champion Dvalishvili, who has since spoken out to announce his next fight while seemingly confirming it was unable to take place at the White House.
Back in January, Dvalishvili revealed that UFC officials have confirmed that he will soon get his trilogy fight against current champion Petr Yan, but that the fight wasn't able to take place at the White House because Yan is from Russia.
“The UFC told me I’m next for the belt. They said there will be a trilogy between me and Yan,” Dvalishvili told MMA Pros Pick.
“They also told me that our fight will not happen at the White House in June because (Yan) is Russian, and that’s impossible.”
If Dvalishvili's comments that Yan couldn't feature on the card because he is Russian are true it would mean that a massive 17 fighters may have been immediately stopped from fighting at the White House.
Most notably among them would be Islam Makhachev, the current welterweight and former lightweight champion, Khamzat Chimaev, former middleweight champion and Magomed Ankalaev, former light heavyweight champion.
Which Russian fighters were prevented from appearing on the UFC White House card?
- Tagir Ulanbekov — Flyweight
- Umar Nurmagomedov — Bantamweight
- Petr Yan — Bantamweight
- Movsar Evloev — Featherweight
- Said Nurmagomedov — Featherweight
- Islam Makhachev — Welterweight
- Abubakar Nurmagomedov — Welterweight
- Muslim Salikhov — Welterweight
- Khamzat Chimaev — Middleweight
- Shara Magomedov — Middleweight
- Ikram Aliskerov — Middleweight
- Magomed Ankalaev — Light Heavyweight
- Azamat Murzakanov — Light Heavyweight
- Alexander Volkov — Heavyweight
- Sergei Pavlovich — Heavyweight
- Rizvan Kuniev — Heavyweight
- Damir Ismagulov — Lightweight
When will Merab Dvalishvili v Petr Yan 3 take place?
Despite this news, it is still believed that Dvalishvili will get his rematch with Yan at some point this year, with the pair having won one of their two meetings each.
Dvalishvili defeated Yan by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night on March 11, 2023 before Yan won the bantamweight title by defeating his former foe via unanimous decision in a rematch on December 6, 2025.
It is not yet known when exactly the trilogy fight will take place, but Dvalishvili recently provided an update claiming that the Russian champion is 'taking his time' and delaying the fight news.
“I don’t hear anything from him,” Dvalishvili told MMA Fighting.
“He don’t want to fight yet. I don’t know what is the situation. We all see his interview, he was ready in June for the White House but they have already announced the July fight card. They’re going to announce the August fight card soon.
“They haven’t told me anything. All I know is I’m fighting Yan but I don’t know when. I don’t know the time. It looks like Petr is taking his time.”
SPORTbible have reached out to the UFC for comment.
Ben McCrum