Jon Jones has opened up on his decision to make a retirement U-turn after UFC president Dana White revealed his “dream main event” for the much-talked-about UFC White House event.
Earlier this week, US president Donald Trump announced that he wants to stage a UFC event at his official residence as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations next July.
Speaking at a rally in Iowa on Thursday, the 79-year-old said: “We’re going to have a UFC fight on the grounds of the White House. We have a lot of land there. Dana’s going to do it.”
Trump’s announcement has sparked plenty of discussion around who will compete on the card, with Conor McGregor and Jon Jones being mentioned amongst other high-profile names.
And on Thursday night, in what is his first major interview since the White House event was announced, Dana White sat down with influencer group the Nelk Boys to discuss the card.
Speaking on the Full Send Podcast, White revealed that the dream main event would be a heavyweight clash between Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones before vowing to make it “the baddest card of all time”.
The revelation comes just two weeks after White confirmed that Jones had called him to confirm he was retiring from the sport for good.
Jones has since taken to X, formerly Twitter, to speak about his retirement U-turn.
Asked by a fan is he was going to fight again, Jones replied: “Who knows what the future holds, but the moment I heard Donald Trump‘s announcement, I started training again.”
Jones also responded to a fan who suggested that a fight between Jones and Tom Aspinall would going to be “the most epic fight in history”.
He said: “It would be, for me it’s about the opportunity to represent America at the White House. I don’t care who I fight that night. I found my reason why, that’s what I needed, something that was more than money.”
Another X user said they would love to see him come back to “fight on the lawn in D.C” and Jones once again responded.
“Donald made his announcement on the morning of the Fourth of July, I called the UFC headquarters that very same afternoon,” Jones said. “I’ll just leave it at that. America! Now that tickles my pickle.”
Will Conor McGregor feature on the UFC White House card?
Dana White was also asked in his recent podcast appearance if Conor McGregor could end up being on the White House card. He responded: “Could be, anything’s possible.”
The UFC president added: “McGregor has gotten himself to a point where he is and will be, whether he stops fighting or not, one of the biggest superstars in sports, period. He’s gotten to a level of success in his life where he has to, I think, be motivated by something.
“He’s accomplished everything and especially financially. Now he’s got to find something that truly motivates him to want to come back and do this again. I don’t know if the White House is it, but we’ll see.”
McGregor, who hasn’t fought since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, has recently claimed that he will make his long-awaited return to the UFC at their White House event.
Speaking at a press conference for a Bare Knuckle FC event, McGregor made his feelings clear. “It’s looking like I’m headed to the Oval Office again,” he said. “That’s where I’m headed next.”
McGregor spoke about the White House event at Thursday night’s BKFC event. Image credit: BKFC
Earlier this week, McGregor said that a return to the White House would be “a very intriguing offer and would bring me back in to focus on my return correctly.”
