After not being included on the UFC's upcoming "Freedom 250" card set to take place at the White House in June, MMA icon Jon Jones went to social media to air his grievances.
"The truth matters to me and the fans," the former two-division champ in the UFC wrote on X. "My team and I were actually negotiating with the UFC for that fight. Real negotiations."
His comments came after UFC president Dana White said publicly over the weekend that Jones was not "even remotely in mind to fight at the White House."
White did go on to acknowledge there had been conversations with Jones, acknowledging that the 38-year-old had expressed interest, but that the UFC president had already contacted Jones' lawyer to make it clear it was "never going to happen ever."
Comments that Jones didn't take too kindly, as he initially expressed through a series of since-deleted posts before readressing the situation on Monday.
Jones went on to say, "I even came down from my original number, and what was I offered in return? I was lowballed."
The former heavyweight champ retired in June of last year, vacating his title along the way, but had re-entered the UFC's anti-doping testing pool just two weeks later, presumably so he could participate in the historic event in June 2026.
That was despite White saying in July 2025 that he "can't risk putting (Jones) in big positions ... and have something go wrong. Especially the White House card."
On Saturday, White mentioned that among "all the other reasons," part of why he didn't consider Jones was the long-time fighter's recent injury concerns leading up to his retirement.
Jones responded by saying, "Yes, I have arthritis in my hip and it’s painful, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fight. So let me get this straight, if I had accepted the lowball offer, suddenly my hip would be fine and I’d be on the White House card? That doesn’t make sense. I even received stem cell treatment last week to get ready for the White House card, and training camp was scheduled to start today. I was preparing to be ready."
The UFC announced its full lineup for its upcoming card set to take place on the South Lawn of the White House, an event that'll be headlined by lightweight champion Ilia Topuria's return in a unification bout against interim champ Justin Gaethje. The card's co-main event will involve Alex Pereira, making his heavyweight division debut, against No. 1-ranked Ciryl Gane in an interim championship fight.
As for Jones, he later expressed his overall disappointment with White's comments in the aftermath of those announcements.
"I understand business deals fall through sometimes, but going out publicly and saying things that aren’t true isn’t right. After everything I’ve given to the UFC, the years, the title defences, the fights, hearing that I’m 'done' is disappointing.
"Especially when, as recently as Friday, UFC was calling me trying to get me on that White House card for a much lower number. If the UFC truly feels like I’m done, then I respectfully ask to be released from my contract today. No more spins, no more games. Thank you to the real fans who know what’s up. Bones out."
