Last weekend, Jon Jones announced via social media that he was unretiring and re-entering the UFC’s testing pool in hopes of returning on the UFC’s 2026 card at the White House. While news quickly spread like wildfire throughout the MMA community, Jones’ big announcement was also met with some skepticism.
Now, UFC CEO Dana White has confirmed that Jones is back in the testing pool and looking to return. During a sit-down with the Nelk Boys on the Full Send Podcast, he stated:
“He jumped back in the pool.”
When pressed further about whether Jones officially re-entered the pool, White simply replied:
“Oh yeah.”
As he went on to explain, pretty much everyone on the UFC’s roster wants to fight on the card, which makes his job much more fun.
While all the talk of a card at the White House has fight fans buzzing, according to Dana, the event likely won’t be open to the public. Instead, he’s expecting the card to be invite-only.
Dana White Names Jones-Aspinall Fight as Dream White House Main Event
Considering that up until Jones’ retirement at the end of June, a title unification bout against Tom Aspinall was the most-discussed fight of the year, it’s no surprise that Dana White is hoping the two will throw down on the UFC’s White House card.
During his appearance on the Full Send Podcast, he named an Aspinall-Jones fight as his dream main event:
“My dream main event right now would be Aspinall versus Jones.”
Following Jones’ win over Stipe Miocic in November, White was optimistic that a title unification bout would take place.
While Jones has maintained that he told the UFC of his plans to retire at the time, White has since refuted the claims.
With Jones now back in the testing pool, it sounds like a bout between the two may not be out of the question.
White Dishes on Logistics of White House Card
Although the news of a UFC card at the White House seemed to come out of left field, according to White, he had already been in contact with US President Donald Trump about a possible card at the White House in 2026.
As he explained on the Full Send Podcast, his team had done a walk-through of the White House before Trump’s big announcement at his 4th of July rally in Des Moines, Iowa.
While he and his team haven’t officially presented their plans to Trump, White indicated that the pitch meeting will take place, quote, “in the next week or two.”
Additionally, he dished on the logistics of the card:
“Tons of challenges. First of all, I don’t even know how many people can get in, not to mention the fact that Secret Service isn’t going to let a lot of people come do this. Everybody’s going to have to have background checks.”
The way he envisions things, one camera angle will have the White House as the backdrop for the event, while the other side will show the Washington Monument.
With a year to figure things out, it’ll be interesting to see White and his team cook up.
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