Jon Jones isn’t holding any ill will towards the UFC and Dana White for leaving him off of the historic UFC White House event.
Following a retirement announcement in June 2025, Jones swiftly reversed course when President Donald Trump announced plans for the White House card. The multiple-time UFC champion wanted to fight at the event, only to be shot down by White, who has said Jones was “never, ever, ever” in consideration to be included.
Despite not being directly involved, Jones is thrilled with how the June 14 played out and what it meant for MMA as a whole.
“I absolutely loved it,” Jones told Red Corner MMA. “It really showed me—it humbled me and it just showed me that our sport is at a prestigious level right now. When I first started MMA, we weren’t allowed to compete in New York State. People looked at it as being taboo, a very weird thing to do. Now, it’s a very honorable sport to be a part of. Probably one of the most honorable sports to be a part of right now in history.
“I’m grateful to be considered one of the best in the sports history. It makes me feel a lot more important since the White House card.”
UFC White House was capped off by Justin Gaethje scoring a dramatic knockout win over Ilia Topuria to unify the interim and undisputed lightweight titles. It was the first loss for Topuria, who also suffered facial fractures in both orbital bones and faces an uncertain return timetable.
Jones has also suffered defeat just once in his illustrious career—a disqualification loss to Matt Hamill in a bout Jones was dominating—so he understands the pressure of being viewed as unbeatable. Outside of the cage, Jones has stumbled multiple times, including arrests for a hit-and-run, a DWI, and a domestic violence incident.
He empathizes with Topuria’s rapid rise to stardom.
“When you become a UFC champion, you become more famous right away,” Jones said. “You get invited to dinner, there’s the girls and there’s the money and there’s all these new friends. There’s just so much that gets thrown at you and if you’re not grounded enough, if you don’t have a strong enough circle and team, it’s easy to get distracted.
“I have fallen victim to all of the things that a young athlete can. The partying, getting in trouble, all of it. But in my situation I had a team that always held me to a high standard and they never allowed me to get discouraged by my downfalls and they just always encouraged me to just keep moving forward.”
Jones fully expects Topuria to bounce back and praised him for his humble response following his loss to Gaethje. Topuria gave full credit to Gaethje, writing, “No excuses. I had one of the best camps of my life. I came in sharp, prepared, and ready. Last night was your night. That’s the nature of this game. Glory and pain walk side by side.”
Just a few weeks shy of his 39th birthday, Jones used Topuria’s current situation to reflect on his own career.
“I always say making it to the UFC is fairly easy,” Jones said. “Staying in the UFC is very hard. And staying the UFC champion is almost impossible, so I’m really honored and I’m blessed for being able to do what I did in the sport.”
