Throughout this week’s Canelo vs Crawford build-up, UFC president Dana White has been talking all things ‘Jon Jones’.
It appears that it isn’t all over for Jones’ hopes of fighting on the rumoured UFC White House card, however, he won’t be headlining the event. Despite ‘retiring’, Jones ended his hiatus from the sport in just two weeks in hopes of featuring on the epic card.
Speaking to Zach Gelb on Sirius XM, White stated that Jones contacted him, stating:
“He reached out, he wrote, like, a text saying ‘listen, sorry how this all played out’ or whatever. ‘I want to fight at the White House, I’m serious about that.”
It’s clear, however, that White doesn’t trust Jon Jones to headline the card itself. He further told Gelb that “he’s not the greatest of all time ‘guy you can count on that you know 100 per cent is going to be solid and be there”, rightfully suggesting that he’s got a history of pulling out of fights, with the mega UFC 200 being the biggest.
Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall…Finally?
So, you’re saying there’s a chance? The only fight that Jon Jones will return for is a heavyweight title fight. This means that we could finally get the Jones vs Tom Aspinall mega fight. It’s the fight that fans want to see and Aspinall is the man who seemingly retired Jones without ever having to fight him.
There’s one, big (French) caveat on for this fight. Aspinall has an upcoming title fight against Ciryl Gane UFC 321. Gane is no easy fight for anyone. If he is to pull off the upset and defeat Aspinall, there is very little interest and value in a Gane vs Jones rematch. Jones blew Gane away in just 2:04 at UFC 285.
UFC White House Card – The Return of McGregor?
It’s clear to everyone that the upcoming UFC White House card is going to be huge. There’s a chance that we could get many of the biggest stars in the sport all featuring on the same card. It isn’t often that we get this. UFC 300 underwhelmed massively, despite having three title fights featuring on the card. The annual UFC card in November in New York is notoriously stacked, however, it is still technically ‘just a PPV’.
Could we see the return on the biggest UFC star in history, Conor McGregor? If Dana White is to be believed, the UFC White House card may be the platform for the return of the Mac. White noted, “He’s always been that guy, I’ve been in the room and on the phone with him. There are a lot of guys who talk tough publicly but behind the scenes it’s a whole other ball game. When the s— hits the fan who’s really willing to go out there? Conor McGregor has always been that guy”.
He’s not lying either. McGregor has only once pulled out of a fight and unfortunately, that fight was never re-booked. He was scheduled to face Michael Chandler at UFC 303, however, he suffered a broken toe and withdrew from the fight. He’s been out of action since July 2021 when he suffered a broken ankle in the trilogy against Dustin Poirier.
If the White House card happens, it is rumoured to be around June 2026, meaning McGregor would have been out of action for just shy of five years. With that being said, he’s never been far from the spotlight, from BKFC to outside of the octagon issues, a McGregor card would still sell millions of PPVs, especially if the opponent is the right one.
Do you want to see Jon Jones and Conor McGregor on the White House card? Let us know.
