Recently, Dana White announced that UFC 250 will take place at the White House on June 14 of this year, headlined by a bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje in a title unification bout. Two names notably not on the list of fights were former UFC champions Jon Jones and Conor McGregor, both of whom had publicly expressed interest in being part of the event.
Now, White has spoken on how Jones in particular was never even that close to participating in UFC 250.
“The Jon Jones thing is bulls—,” White said, per Andreas Hale of ESPN.com. “I'm not saying they weren't talking to Jon Jones and that Jon Jones wasn't interested in the fight. What was even crazier was Jon Jones came out and was like, ‘I'm in negotiations right now for the White House card,' after I had already sent a text to his lawyer saying, ‘Never going to happen ever.'”
He also added that Jones is still retired.
“Never, ever, ever — which I told you guys 100,000 times — was Jon Jones ever even remotely in my mind to fight at the White House,” White said. “He's got arthritis in his hips. Apparently, he's had doctors say that he needs a hip replacement.”
White also spoke on the prospect of a McGregor return to the UFC, noting that “We are definitely talking to Conor,” although it is unclear at the moment when that might take place.
It will be interesting to see how the UFC plans to stage the spectacle of a fight event at the White House, although the organization and some of its stars have publicly aligned themselves with President Donald Trump in recent years, which certainly seems to have contributed to this event's origins.
UFC 250 is slated to take place on June 14.
