Dana White teases Jon Jones, Conor McGregor UFC White House card

UFC CEO and president Dana White teased the return of former champions Jon Jones and Conor McGregor on the UFC White House card next year. The premier MMA promotion, whose leader has been a staunch supporter of this presidential administration, is planning to host a pay-per-view on July 4, 2026, and there is already speculation about who will feature on that card. The UFC is undergoing somewhat of a transitional phase, with many of its major stars retiring from the sport over the past five years. Most recently, Jon Jones, one of the most decorated and controversial fighters ever, decided to hang up the gloves in a shocking decision. A lot of people were anticipating that the then-heavyweight champion was going to defend his belt against interim champ Tom Aspinall, but it wasn’t meant to be. Meanwhile, Conor McGregor has teased several fights over the past few years but has not stepped into the octagon since 2021. While it seems like both of the combat superstars are done, White seemed to disagree with that notion in an interview on the Pat McAfee show, hinting at their potential return for this DC event. “Anything is possible. Listen, it’s still a year away. I mean it’s a year away from now, so the landscape will change a lot over the next year as far as title holders and stars, and people that pop up, but yeah. If we can do a Jones and Conor on the same card, plus a lot of other great fights. Anything is possible, and everything is possible for that card. So the President has this whole thing where he wants to bring Americans back to the White House. He’s like, this is America’s House, everybody should be able to come and enjoy it. Easter Egg hunts on the lawn and all that stuff. He says, ‘I think we should do a fight here at The White House,’ and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m in.’ So he told Ivanka to handle it and start the talks with me. So my team went out there and did all the recon on it. We’re putting together a whole pitch, and we’re going to fly out there in a couple of weeks and walk the President through it and see what he likes and doesn’t like and start fine-tuning this thing. And we’re going to put on an incredible event at The White House on the South Lawn.” The UFC has seen legends return and feature on major pay-per-views before, and it seems pretty clear Dana wants to put on a show at The White House. However, the promotion will be fine should these two never return, and new stars will continue to emerge over the next year. While MMA is more international than ever before, fan interest will not waver if they continue to get the fights they want at the highest level. Jones and McGregor might return for one last hurrah for this pay-per-view event, and if they do, it will spark extra interest. That media attention around that speculation is probably why White made this statement, but the promotion should have no problem putting together an exciting fight card either way.