Bones Jones on the White House card? White says no

It wasn’t a definitive no, but it was close.

UFC President Dana White, asked during a post-UFC 318 news conference if he would consider putting Albuquerque’s Jon “Bones” Jones on a proposed UFC show at the White House during the United States’ 250th anniversary celebration next summer, said he took a dim view of the idea.

Jones, a recently retired, two-division UFC champion whom White himself has called the greatest MMA fighter of all time, has a long history of legal entanglements.

White said he was reluctant — beyond reluctant, perhaps — to take a chance on Jones, given the fighter’s history and given the enormity of a UFC card at the White House.

“I can’t risk putting him in big positions in a big spot, and have something go wrong,” White said. “Especially at the White House.”

Jones announced his retirement — or, actually, White did that for him after the two spoke on the phone — on June 21. But after White and President Donald Trump jointly announced plans for a 250th-anniversary UFC card at the White House, Jones said he would eagerly un-retire for the opportunity to fight on such a card. At around midnight Saturday/Sunday morning, Jones, in responding to an online critic, posted the following on X:

“Why the negativity?” Jones wrote. “My last fight I beat the greatest heavyweight of all time (Stipe Miocic) for a record-breaking 16 title wins … and if that wasn’t my last time fighting, the next one will be at the White House and the biggest event in the history of our sport.”

Later Sunday, Jones posted the following:

“I heard the comments made (by White) 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. I’ll be ready for whatever comes next.”

Jones currently faces two criminal charges for an incident that occurred in Albuquerque in February: leaving the scene of an accident and threatening a police service aide during a pursuant phone conversation.

The UFC has suspended Jones and stripped him of the light heavyweight title three times: once after he left the scene of a 2015 car crash in Albuquerque, twice after he tested positive for a banned substance. Jones has denied ever intentionally ingesting a performance-enhancing drug.

In 2021, Jones was in Las Vegas to be honored at a UFC Hall of Fame event when he was arrested after his fiancèe presented herself at a hotel/casino security desk with blood on her face and clothes.

When confronted by police on the Vegas Strip, Jones head-butted a patrol car.

He ultimately pleaded no contest to the vehicle charge and was ordered to pay restitution. The domestic battery charge was dropped.