Jon Jones is confident that he has a chance to be a part of the UFC White House event, despite Dana White’s comments.
Jones retired in June, a few weeks before US President, Donald Trump, revealed his plans to host a historic UFC event at the White House.
The announcement spurred Jones to re-enter the UFC’s drug testing pool, in an attempt to put his name in the running for a spot on the historic card.
Despite White initially saying that a heavyweight clash between Jones and Tom Aspinall would be his dream headline for the event, he seems to have made a U-turn of his own.
During the post-fight press conference of UFC 319, White stated that the chances of Jones getting a spot on the card are ‘a billion to one’.
The UFC CEO also said that he wouldn’t trust Jones to be a part of the UFC event at the White House, and would rather give Conor McGregor the opportunity to fight.
Jones has since responded to White’s recent comments on X, formerly twitter, in a surprisingly positive manner.
He said: “Despite the odds, I’m still training and optimistic about the possibility of being part of the White House event.
“At the end of the day, Dana is the boss and it’s his call whether I compete that night or not.
“I do know Dana was really excited about the fight, and the door hasn’t been completely closed. That’s all a guy like me really needs.
“It sounds like another awesome goal to be inspired by. Sometimes in life, we’re not going to reach everything we set out to do and that’s okay.
“But I like my chances… after all, one in a billion is exactly what it took to end up as Jon ‘Bones’ Jones in the first place.”
Jones had a decorated MMA career, with a professional record of 28-1.
His most recent appearance in the Octagon saw him beat Stipe Miocic to retain the UFC heavyweight title.
Which he then vacated when he retired, and Aspinall was promoted to the undisputed champion.
What has been confirmed so far about the UFC White House event?
White has shared that the event will take place on July 4, 2026, as part of the 250th celebrations of America’s Independence.
He revealed: “We’re going to be on the South Lawn and literally when you’re watching the fight, it will be all the White House here and behind me will be the Washington Monument.
“We’re just getting into the logistics right now. My team has already walked the White House with the staff there.”
It was recently shared that Paramount and CBS will be the distributors for all UFC events in America.
This new deal means that the White House card will be shown a part of traditional streaming membership, instead of pay-per-view.
There will be no major changes to how viewers in the UK access the sport though, with TNT Sports keeping the rights to broadcast the UFC.