Jon Jones Requests Contract Release Amid UFC White House Feud

Jon Jones’ friction with UFC CEO Dana White is at an all-time high currently, and now he has released a statement to set the record straight and ask to be let out of his contract with the promotion.

Since the announcement came that there would be a UFC event hosted at the White House, Jones has been after a spot on the card, but Dana White was adamant that he would not be a part of the monumental occasion. But as time went on, rumors of negotiations surfaced, and Jones seemed extremely optimistic that he would fight on the South Lawn come June 14th.

This past weekend during the UFC 326 PPV broadcast, the UFC White House event was announced as ‘UFC Freedom 250’ and the six-fight card was revealed, but Jones was not on the list. Instead, the card will be headlined by the lightweight title unification match between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje, with Alex Pereira making his heavyweight debut for the interim heavyweight belt versus Ciryl Gane.

Following the announcement, Dana White remained adamant that Jones was never considered to fight at the White House, but the former heavyweight champion told a very different story in his response.

“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.”

-Dana White

“So all of this negotiating was complete bulls**t, is that what you want me to agree to publicly? Man, how f**king painful. Laying in my bed, wrapping my head around this perception,”

-Jon Jones

Now, Jones has elaborated on his response to White with a lengthy statement posted to social media this week. In the statement he indicated that negotiations were in the advanced stages, but ultimately he felt as if he was being unfairly treated in their offer.

Hey everyone, I wanted to address Dana White’s comments from this past weekend, because the truth matters to me and the fans.
Dana, you were heated about why I’m not on the White House card, but let’s clear something up. My team and I were actually negotiating with the UFC for…

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) March 9, 2026

“Hey everyone, I wanted to address Dana White’s comments from this past weekend, because the truth matters to me and the fans. Dana, you were heated about why I’m not on the White House card, but let’s clear something up. My team and I were actually negotiating with the UFC for that fight. Real negotiations. I even came down from my original number, and what was I offered in return? I was lowballed,” Jones said.

“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. 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 defenses, the fights , hearing that I’m “done” is disappointing,” Jones continued. “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.”