Jon Jones desperately wanted to headline the UFC White House card, but Dana White was always adamant it was never going to happen.
Now that the full event was announced, White doubled down on that declaration, despite rumors that Jones was actually in consideration for the main event slot that eventually went to Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje in a lightweight title unification bout. White repeatedly stated that he just couldn’t depend on Jones due to a myriad of issues in the past that prevented him from competing in the UFC and that always left him on the outside looking in when it came to a card as important as the one at the White House.
”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.
“That on top of all the other reasons that I wouldn’t [put him at the White House]. The Jon Jones thing is bullshit.”
The matchup that the UFC was supposedly working towards would book Jones against Alex Pereira, which was a matchup both fighters publicly stated that they wanted.
More recently, Jones even claimed he was actually in talks with the UFC for the White House card, but the UFC CEO says that’s not even remotely true.
While he doesn’t deny that the UFC matchmakers may have spoken to Jones at some point, White was always going to make the final call on the White House lineup and there was no chance the former heavyweight and light heavyweight champion was going to get that top slot.
“I’m not saying they weren’t talking to Jon Jones and Jon Jones wasn’t interested in the fight,” White said. “What’s even crazier, Jon Jones came out and was like ‘I’m in negotiations right now for the White House fight’ after I had already sent a text to his lawyer saying ‘never going to happen, ever.”
As far as Jones’ future goes, White believes he’s probably already fought his last fight in the UFC.
Prior to the announcement about the UFC White House card, Jones announced his retirement after the promotion attempted to book him against Tom Aspinall in a heavyweight title fight. Once that fell apart, Jones called it a career but then reconsidered with hopes that he might get to take part in the prestigious event at the White House.
But now that it’s clear he’s not getting that opportunity coupled with his health issues, White says Jones is probably done for good.
“Yes, very fair [to say he’s retired],” White said in closing.
For his part, Jones hasn’t publicly addressed the situation, but he’s obviously not competing at the White House and it remains to be seen if he plans to officially announce his retirement again.
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