Jon
Jones was left out of the UFC White House festivities. |
Getty/UFC
While the rumor mill may have indicated otherwise, Dana White
claims Jon
Jones was never truly considered for a spot on the
UFC White House card.
”Never, ever, ever, which I told you guys 100,000 times was Jon
Jones even remotely in my mind to fight at the White House,” White
said at the UFC 326 post-fight press conference. “First of all,
I’ve told you why I wouldn’t do it, and No. 2, some guy with Meta
glasses on filmed him talking about his hips, that his hips are so
bad and I don’t know if you guys saw that flag football game where
he can barely run. Jon Jones, he retired because of his hips. He’s
got arthritis in his hips. Apparently doctors say he should have
hip replacements.”
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The promotion announced the six-bout lineup for the UFC White House
card on Saturday night, which included an interim heavyweight title
tilt between Alex
Pereira and Ciryl Gane.
After Jones revealed that he was in negotiations with the promotion
to fight at the June 14 event, speculation intensified that he
would be booked against Pereira. Though White admitted that the UFC
White House card had one fight fall through at the last minute, it
apparently had nothing to do with Jones.
„The Jon Jones thing is bulls—t,” White said. „I’m not saying they
[the UFC matchmakers] weren’t talking to Jon Jones and that Jon
Jones wasn’t interested in the fight. What was even crazier was Jon
Jones came out and was like ‚I’m in negotiations right now for the
White House card,‘ after I had already sent a text to his lawyer
saying, ‚Never going to happen ever.’“
Jones initially retired this past June after the UFC failed to book
“Bones” in a heavyweight title unification bout against Tom
Aspinall. However, the former two-division champion quickly
returned to the drug testing pool when President Donald Trump
announced that there would be a UFC event at the White House.
Though Jones has admitted that he is dealing with arthritis in his
hips, he claimed that would not prevent him from competing on the
highly-anticipated card.
However, White says it’s “very fair” to say that Jones is still
retired from active competition.
Jones Reacts
Jones reacted to White’s comments in a series of tweets that were
later deleted.
“So all of this negotiating was complete bulls—t, is that what you
want me to agree to publicly?” Jones wrote. “I’m released from the
UFC?!!
“Man, how f—-ing painful.
“Laying in my bed, wrapping my head around this perception. All I
can think is how f*cking painful.
“And then the other half of me’s like, but is it really
though?”
Jon Jones went
on a rant after Dana White said he was never going to fight at the
White House 😬„So all of this negotiating was complete bullsh*t, is that what you
want me to agree to publicly? Man, how f*cking painful. Laying in
my bed, wrapping my head around this… pic.twitter.com/v29DN2qjoY— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS)
March 8, 2026