NEW ORLEANS – Dana White isn’t so sure he’d feel comfortable booking Jon Jones on the promotion’s highly anticipated card at the White House.
With the event just shy of a year away after President Donald Trump’s recent announcement, White admits it’s too way too soon to matchmake the card. However, Jones repeatedly has mentioned the White House card being what could bring him out of retirement.
White explained to reporters at Smoothie King Center on Saturday after UFC 318 that he has some hesitancy to oblige Jones’ request.
“It’s not even about him winning the belt,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “You know how I felt about him. You know I can’t risk putting him in big positions in a big spot and have something go wrong – especially the White House card.”
White’s hesitance stems from Jones’ long history of transgressions, one of which ruined the milestone UFC 200 that was supposed to be headlined by Jones vs. Daniel Cormier. Jones was flagged for an anti-doping violation during fight week, and the bout was canceled.
Since Trump’s impromptu announcement of a UFC card coinciding with the U.S.’s 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026, fighters have flocked to virtually raise their hands on social media for a spot on the card.
From Jones to Conor McGregor to Nate Diaz, the working idea has caught the attention of many. Despite this, White said that, for now, his focus is simply on operational logistics.
“I have other problems,” White said. “I’m dealing with the logistics and all the things on figuring out how to make this thing happen. How do we want to do it? I’m going to fly out there in about 10 days, two weeks, and we’re going to have all the renderings done. We’ll sit down with (Trump) and go through the renderings and see what he wants to do and what he doesn’t want to do.”
