Jon Jones hasn’t given up on fighting at the White House just yet.
Weeks after relinquishing his heavyweight title and retiring, Jones returned to the UFC’s drug testing pool upon word that U.S. President Donald Trump wanted to host a UFC event at the White House in Washington, D.C. to coincide with next year’s Fourth of July celebrations. It was an about-face for Jones, who could not be persuaded to face Tom Aspinall, the interim heavyweight champ (now promoted to undisputed title holder).
During Saturday’s UFC 318 post-fight press conference, however, UFC CEO and President Dana White suggested he couldn’t rely on Jones to be part of such a big show. Jones, who putting it kindly has a long history of scandals that have led to bout cancellations, titles being stripped, and results needing to be overturned, simply isn’t reliable, suggested White.
“You know how I feel about him. I can’t risk putting him in big positions, in a big spot and have something go wrong,” White told media outlets including Cageside Press backstage at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. “Especially the White House card.”
Harsh, but fair. Jones once forced an entire event to be moved from Nevada to California, simply because he couldn’t keep banned substances out of his system, “picograms” or not (UFC 232 shifted states after Jones tested positive for trace amounts of anabolic steroids back in 2018).
Upon hearing White’s comments at the UFC 318 post-fight press conference, Jones issued his response on social media. Somewhat surprisingly, he doesn’t seem all that deterred.
“I heard the comments made at last night’s press conference. While I was a little disappointed, I’m still in the UFC’s drug testing pool, staying sharp, and continuing to train like a professional,” stated Jones. “I’ll be ready for whatever comes next.”
“In a recent interview, I shared that the opportunity to fight at the White House gave me something deeper to fight for, a “why” that goes beyond paychecks or belts. Fighting for my country gives me a greater purpose!”
“The silver lining in all this is knowing the fans see my heart. They see, I am ready and willing to take on anyone, to represent my country on a historic stage,” added Jones. “For me, it’s never been just about the opponent. I’m chasing legacy, something timeless, something bigger than the moment.”
“So for now, I’ll keep grinding, stay patient, and stay faithful. I’m ready to fight on July 4th,” he finished.
With the card over a year away, it remains to be seen if Jones maintains his interest in the event, and even stays out of trouble long enough to compete on the card, assuming it moves forward as planned. White revealed Saturday that the UFC had a meeting with the White House set in about two week’s time to go over renderings of what the event would look like.
