Justin Gaethje Captures Undisputed Lightweight Crown In Epic Fashion At UFC Freedom 250

Melania Trump fist bump is the best recognition any competitor could ever receive beyond a lingering handshake by the 45th & 47th POTUS Donald J. Trump, all the while about 70 to 80 thousand people on the 52 acre Ellipse Park (also referred to as President's Park South) celebrate the underdog American win over an undefeated/undisputed UFC Champion. Image Credit: Paramount+ via TNT Sports - FB/META REELS (2026)

Justin Gaethje Captures Undisputed Lightweight Crown In Epic Fashion At UFC Freedom 250

Justin Gaethje has long stood as MMA’s premier action fighter. Now, the American warrior stands alone as simply the best. 

On Sunday, the resilient American (born and bred in the Eastern border mining town of Safford Arizona) underdog shocked the combat world by forcing 6 to 1 favored lightweight champion, Spain's own Ilia Topuria,   to retire on his stool at "one of" UFC Freedom 250 event, celebrating the 250th year of the birth of the United States of America, on the South lawn of the White House, in Washington DC.

No fighter embodies the true warrior spirit quite like Gaethje. Nicknamed “The Highlight,” he has lived up to that moniker since his very first UFC appearance and has never looked back. Across 15 UFC bouts, he has earned a post-fight bonus in nearly every outing - a remarkable streak that continued in unforgettable fashion during the main event of a historic card.

What proves most impressive about Gaethje’s ascent remains his ability to refine his naturally violent style for the highest levels of competition while never compromising the fan-pleasing aggression that defines him. That truth never shined brighter than in Sunday’s main event. 

Against the iconic backdrop of the White House in an octagon center-framed within an outdoor event structure, designed in Europe, nicknamed "The Claw," Gaethje painted Topuria’s face crimson with relentless pressure. He relied on ironclad survival instincts, weathering a brutal second round where body shots to the liver area dropped him. Topuria appeared to err tactically by chasing control submissions while the two were wrestling on the canvas, granting Gaethje precious moments to recover. 

By Round 3, Topuria looked visibly slowed - a perilous state against a fighter who thrives in wars of attrition. Gaethje turned the tide, knocking down and repeatedly stunning the champion after nearly being finished himself - through canvas control escapes. The accumulated damage to Topuria’s face grew so severe that the ringside physician nearly halted the contest. For the good of the contest and the wishes of Topuria himself, the Referee signaled the beginning of Round 4. 

Topuria fought back valiantly in Round 4, arguably claiming the penultimate stanza, yet one of his cornermen threw in the towel as the Georgian’s face continued to swell dramatically, with an orbital bone visibly displaced on the right side. 

“My durability, tenacity, and heart will carry me through adversity,” Gaethje declared in his post-fight interview. 

Already a two-time interim lightweight champion, Gaethje finally seized the undisputed UFC Championship title that had long eluded him. The achievement carries even greater weight given that he and his team had openly discussed retirement following his next defeat. 

Two UFC Belts - one for the outright Lightweight UFC Championship, one for the UFC Freedom 250 Event Championship main card, a handshake and a fist-bump from the POTUS and First Lady - competitive life may not get any better than this moment in time.

TAGS: #JustinGaethje, #UFCFreedom250, #LightweightChampion, #IliaTopuria, #TheHighlight, #MMAWarrior, #UFC, #WhiteHouseFight, #EpicUpset, #FightOfTheYear, #TheEDJE, #MAXINE

David Hockney, Laurel & Nichols Canyons, And A 1980 Driveway Encounter

Nichols Canyon on down towards its entrance off of Hollywood Boulevard to the South - this image is looking roughly South down into the property and all of the way down the canyon in Hockney's Nichols Canyon from the brown curve depicted center left at the top of the upper part of the painting - artistic license understood. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2007)

David Hockney, Laurel & Nichols Canyons, And A 1980 Driveway Encounter

David Hockney passed yesterday at the age of 88, leaving behind a body of work that forever reframed how the world sees Southern California light, landscape, and lived experience. For one longtime Angeleno family nestled in Nichols Canyon - just one twist east of the more celebrated Laurel Canyon - the news carried an especially personal resonance.

In the early 1980s, while the patriarch tended his front yard on a quiet decomposed-granite driveway, a familiar silver-haired artist pulled in unannounced. It was David Hockney. The two men spoke at length beneath the warm canyon sun. 

HollyLoa from the front looking North with Palm Tree Point on the right next to the decomposed granite driveway - this image is looking roughly North up into the property depicted in Hockney's Nichols Canyon by the yellow Queen Palm with the stucco house behind at center left near the bottom of the upper third of the painting. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2007)

Hockney, camera in hand, captured images of the classic Post-War, late 1940s ranch-style home perched behind hand-laid broken concrete terraces overflowing with purple lantana, long-needle pines, bamboo clusters, South American Jacaranda, and a majestic Queen Palm standing sentinel at the driveway’s entrance ("Palm Tree Point"). The air that day, as on most days in the canyon, carried the unmistakable perfume of native sage, eucalyptus, and wild chaparral rising on the breeze.

Years would pass before the family connected those casual driveway photographs to Hockney’s now-iconic painting "Nichols Canyon." 

When the print finally came into view, the recognition was immediate: the very house, the winding road ascending toward it, and that unmistakable queen palm anchoring the top-center third of the composition. The canvas traces Nichols Canyon Road, starting at Hollywood Boulevard at the bottom, as it snakes upward past the family property and continues all the way to Mulholland Drive via Woodrow Wilson Drive, capturing the layered greens, golden hills, and rhythmic curves that define this tucked-away canyon corner of the Hollywood Hills.

Hockney’s brief visit and resulting masterpiece remain a cherished private chapter in the canyon’s artistic lore - a moment when one of the 20th century’s greatest painters paused on a neighbor’s driveway, breathed the same chaparral-scented air, and transformed an everyday residential vista into something enduring and luminous.

Rest in peace, Mr. Hockney. Your brush touched more than canvas; it touched memory itself.

HollyLoa ... Twenty-Seven Years Beyond 

HollyLoa was sold in court in an overbid auction process and will have a new owner after escrow is complete in the summer of 2007.

The end of a proud and happy era in Nichols Canyon (1943 - 2007).

May God continue to bless everyone who will carry on the legacy of the property that was once known to the Willard & Maxine Jenks family as:

"HollyLoa"

Footnote: Yes, the Maxine mentioned in the previous sentence is the namesake ant tribute of the spirit of Maxine Jenks - MAXINE.

TAGS: #DavidHockney, #NicholsCanyon, #LaurelCanyon, #HollywoodHills, #CaliforniaLight, #Chaparral, #ArtAndMemory, #MAXINE, #TheEDJE, #RIPDavidHockney

Jungle Primary - Quiet Part Out Loud

Ballot drop boxes donated by FB/META owner, Mark Zuckerberg in the lead up to the COVID-19 tainted 2020 election cycle - still in use today for a scheme implemented in California of broadcast mail-out ballots - drop off. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

Jungle Primary - Quiet Part Out Loud

The day after the pivotal 2026 primary election, where the crowded field of candidates for key offices is narrowed to the finalists, we are treated to social media exhibits that highlight the levels of corruption that exists in Single Political Party states - like California.

One example that popped up that was shared was from NBC NEWS showing the strength of the support for GOP candidate Steve Hilton against the likes of some candidates spending as much as $220 Million dollars in advertising (and showing up third).

This Facebook timeline posting (click image to launch) carried some further comments that led to the following SUNO music project. 

One comment stated the following "discounting" reaction to this video - "D's don't think voting by mail is corrupt. Trump's GOP does, so they vote at the polls. This isn't news!" - Really? - which prompted the following reaction - "Nothing to see here - "Jungle Primary" process to snuff two party general elections combined with - broadcast mail-out of ballots - no ID for voting - Zuckerberg drop boxes in parks and light rail travel ways - sanctuary city/state policies combined with commercial driver's licenses (sometimes without an actual traceable name) bring issued to non-documented Human beings - third person drop-off of harvested ballots - lack of attention to citizen (steering committee) integrity in voting - people's wishes and money stewardship be damned processes - ya' know, nuttin' to see here."

Screengrab of the live cameras covering the floor of the Mail-In Ballots Extraction Center - not too many folks working down there - no real pressure when the state has 37 days to certify this primary elections process. Image Credit: Los Angeles County - Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk via YouTube (2026)

This set the basis for the following AI created/curated song - "Jungle Primary" >>>

LYRICS

**[Verse 1]**  

You know I’m watching, so why’d you slip it on live TV?  

NBC just said the quiet part, like it was nothing to me  

“They’d need a flood of ballots in the wee hours, baby”  

Democrat state for fifteen years, magic in the dark, shady  

It’s cold out here in the Golden State, waiting on that midnight fairy  

Jungle primary mixing up the game, two-party system getting buried  

Mail ballots dropping, no ID, boxes in the park like it’s fine  

Zuck bucks everywhere, while the real count’s crossing the line  

I get what you’re saying, “Nothing to see here, move along”  

But I really don’t wanna hear it right now, you know I’m not that strong  

**[Pre-Chorus]**  

I took all your nice words about how it’s totally normal  

Every Tuesday night, same old story, same old formal  

But cut me some slack, who do you think I am?  

I see the harvest, I see the drop-offs, I see the whole damn scam  

**[Chorus]**  

‘Cause it’s too messy, then it’s too blinking clean  

Ballots at 3 a.m. turn red to blue on the screen  

I want it fair, is that not allowed?  

Every legal vote, every safeguard, say it out loud  

And I’m too loud, then I’m too blinking quiet  

Trust ain’t demanded, it’s earned, but you deny it  

Jungle Primary… quiet part out loud  

California dreamin’… or just cheating in the clouds?  

**[Verse 2]**  

D’s mailing it in, GOP at the polls on time  

Different rules for different fools, but the outcome’s lookin’ fine?  

Sanctuary papers, commercial license names that fade  

Third-person drop-offs playing games in the shade  

Steering committee sleeping while the people’s money gets spent  

Wishes get twisted, citizen integrity bent  

No matter where you live, coast to the plains, I feel the same  

Fair and secure – that’s the only blinking game  

I get what you’re saying, “It’s secure, don’t be dramatic”  

But shut up for once in your life, this shit is problematic  

**[Pre-Chorus]**  

I took your “nothing to see here,” swallowed it down  

But the midnight magic’s got the whole country turned around  

**[Chorus]**  

‘Cause it’s too messy, then it’s too blinking clean  

Ballots in the morning flip the whole damn scene  

I want transparency, is that not allowed?  

Every legal vote counted right, say it blinking loud  

And I’m too woke, then I’m too blinking dumb  

Demanding safeguards like it’s 2000 and one  

Jungle Primary… quiet part out loud  

We’re wide awake now… scream it from the crowd  

**[Bridge]** *(Vocals rawer, half-spoken, building anger – guitars get dirtier)*  

Trust isn’t given… it’s built where we can see  

Count ’em in the daylight, no more mystery  

One person, one vote, no fairy dust at dawn  

No harvested bullshit, no names that are gone  

You want me quiet? Too bad, I’m done being clean  

I’m messy about this crap, and I mean what I mean…  

**[Final Chorus]** *(Full build, layered gritty harmonies, angry and cathartic)*  

‘Cause it’s too messy, then it’s too blinking clean  

We see the quiet part, we’re not buying the scene  

I want it fair, is that not allowed?  

Every safeguard, every vote, make it real, make it proud  

Jungle Primary… quiet part out loud  

No more midnight magic in this town  

Trust is earned… or we burn it down  

Jungle Primary… let the truth come out  

**[Outro]** *(Fading, spoken-sung, exhausted but defiant)*  

Yeah… nothing to see here.  

Right.  

Trust is... earned.  

ENDS

We, at MAXINE, believe all Americans would be served, nationwide, with what is proposed through the SAVE America Act sitting on the GOP led Senate's desk - Pass it now.

TAGS: #JunglePrimary, #QuietPartOutLoud, #CaliforniaElections, #ElectionIntegrity, #MailInBallots, #BallotHarvesting, #MidnightBallots, #TransparencyNow, #FairElections, #VoterID, #CaliforniaPrimary, #NoMoreMagic, #TrustEarned, #LolaYoungVibes, #RawAnthem, #PoliticalPop, #VoteSecure