Here Are All the Celebrities Who Rejected Invite to UFC White House Card
The UFC Freedom 250 card is expected to be the company's biggest event of the year, and maybe ever.
UFC president Dana White has repeatedly said he expects the card to do record numbers, so much so, in fact, that he invited a slew of A-list celebrities to attend.
White admitted that he personally invited movie stars Adam Sandler, Jason Statham, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Mario Lopez, recording artist Guy Ritchie and Jared Leto, and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady to attend.
But according to Aidan Mclaughlin of Vanity Fair, several of those celebrities actually don't plan on showing up.
"A source close to The Rock tells Vanity Fair that he will not be attending," Mclaughlin reported. "Representatives for Sandler, Leto, and Lopez say they won't be either. Reps for the others did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The White House and UFC did not respond to requests for comment about the guest list."
The Freedom 250 card was created to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States. It will take place on the South lawn of the White House - the first combat sports event hosted at the White House since Theodore Roosevelt hosted boxing matches during his presidency.
The full UFC Freedom 250 fight card is listed below:
- Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje for the UFC lightweight championship
- Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane for the UFC heavyweight championship
- Sean O'Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi
- Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis
- Mauricio Ruffy vs. Michael Chandler
- Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus
- Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia
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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 7:34 PM.