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There’s a lot of things still up in the air regarding the much-hyped UFC event at the White House scheduled for July 4th, 2026. But one thing is for sure: Jon Jones will not be fighting at it.
Jones retired from competition, only to immediately un-retire after president Donald Trump announced he’d host a UFC event on the South Lawn as part of America 250 celebrations. That didn’t impress UFC CEO Dana White, who said he ‘didn’t trust’ Jones to headline a card of this importance.
White reiterated that stance following UFC 319, adding some pretty astronomical odds to the possibility of him changing his mind.
“Let me ask you,” he said at the post-fight presser when asked if Jones could earn his trust. “What do you think Jon would do in the next couple of months that would make me trust putting him on the White House card?”
When reporter Zach Gelb didn’t have an answer to that, White added “So I already said that I don’t trust him, and you’re asking me what could he do for me to trust him in the next three months. You don’t trust him!”
White added that he wasn’t in communication with Jones through all of the GOAT contender’s talk of returning.
“I would not bet on [it],” he concluded. “If I had to make odds, it’s a billion to one that I put Jon Jones on the White House card.”
The UFC CEO is clearly still feeling burned after Jones asked for $30 million to fight Tom Aspinall, only to back out after the UFC secured the bag — reportedly with help from Saudi Arabia.
“He said yes,” Ariel Helwani said on a recent episode of Impaulsive. “And then two, three days later, he said, ‘Nah. Second thought, I’m out.’ That’s why when he announced his retirement, Dana said, ‘He gave me his word, and then he went back on his word.’”
Add on all the other incidents in Jones’ past — the record number of times he’s been stripped of or has relinquished his titles, the fallout from drug test failures, the criminal charges new and old — we’re not surprised White isn’t willing to put “Bones” on what could be the biggest card of 2026 and possibly the biggest card in the history of the company.
