Daniel Cormier may not like Jon Jones, but he can at least acknowledge that Jones getting left off the UFC White House card probably stings.
This past weekend, the UFC finally announced the fights for the highly anticipated White House card this June, and perhaps the biggest surprise of the bunch was that former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones would not be fighting at the event.
Jones retired in 2025, but after the White House card was announced, he returned to the testing pool and lobbied hard
for a spot at the event, so much so that many expected Jones to fight Alex Pereira in a bout both men have been calling for. Instead, the UFC opted to book Pereira against Ciryl Gane in an interim heavyweight title fight, and despite their long history of animosity, even Daniel Cormier feels bad for his longtime rival.
“I kind of felt bad for him,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “I felt bad for Jon, because it just seemed like he wanted to fight on that card, bad. Think about this — and I’ve said this time and time again — I think Jon got to fight Stipe [Miocic] because he goes, ‘Give me this legacy one, and I’ll give you the [Tom] Aspinall fight.’ Then he reneged. ‘I’m retired.’
“Then he goes, ‘I kind of want to fight at the White House.’ I think this is kind of like a come-to-Jesus moment. At 28, 29, no matter what you did, when he got that event cancelled with Chael, they said, ‘You’ll never headline again.’ But he was selling PPVs, so you had to go back to him. But at 38, 39, he’s got bad hips and injuries, and it looks like he’s on his way out. They’re kind of like, ‘You’re not going to prove value for me in the long term, so I don’t think we need bend over for you anymore.’ It’s crazy.”
Jones has had a hot-and-cold relationship with the UFC for years at this point, but his handling of the Aspinall situation did seem to draw particular ire from UFC brass, so much so that before the White House card was announced, Dana White repeatedly declared that he could not trust Jones to headline such an important event.
After the card was announced, White doubled down on this contention, saying Jones was never an option for the event and declaring Jones essentially retired. In response, Jones fired back at White, confirming reports that he was in talks with the UFC over the event, but that the promotion “lowballed” him. Jones went on to say that if White feels this way, he’d like to be released from his contract. It’s a new low for Jones’s relationship with the UFC, and one that Cormier is a little surprised by.
“That’s not the first time [White’s] said anything derogatory about him,” Cormier said. “It’s hard to get that upset when someone’s actually shown you that behavior before, but right now, it seems like it just really bothered him that he was getting called a liar.
“I’ve called him everything. He’s been called negative stuff for years, but now it’s like this thing bothered him. I honestly think maybe it was because the White House thing meant something to him.”
Unfortunately for Jones, that does not seem like to happen. And on a similar note, Cormier says Jones shouldn’t be holding out hope that the UFC will honor his request for release, either.
“There’s no way you can release Jones, because then Jones and Francis [Ngannou] can be made outside of the UFC, that’s you giving someone power,” Cormier said. “You can’t let him go. There’s no way that he could actually fight anywhere else or be released. I don’t think he’s getting released.”
TOP STORIES
Payment. Ronda Rousey: UFC now ‘one of the worst places to go’ for fighters.
Not Impressed. ‘Who the hell is that guy?’: Matt Brown admits he was not impressed at all with UFC White House card.
Fight. Francis Ngannou tells Jake Paul ‘I want to kick your ass now,’ Paul responds.
Trash. Ilia Topuria blasts Islam Makhachev for UFC White House absence, Makhachev responds.
Grappling. Paddy Pimblett: Charles Oliveira’s grappling isn’t ‘levels above mine.’
Loss. Max Holloway releases first statement after UFC 326 loss to Charles Oliveira.
VIDEO STEW
Rousey vs. Carano press conference.
Scrums.
Brawl at Hype Brazil presser.
Staredowns for Hype Brazil.
Volkanovski embraces the haters.
Michael Bisping reacts to big news.
FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR
Fighter vs. Writer. Damon Martin and Matt Brown give their review of the UFC White House announcement, what to make of Francis Ngannou joining forces with Most Valuable Promotions, and more.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
The definitive fight week schedule.
Solidarity.
Don’t call it a comeback.
10-7 Ngannou.
Race to the finish.
New fight.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In one weekend, the UFC turned Jon Jones and Ronda Rousey into sympathetic figures. Remarkable own goals from the biggest MMA promotion in the world. And it doesn’t matter at all.
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