{"id":3486,"date":"2026-03-10T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/03\/jon-jones-requests-ufc-release-after-white-house-event-reveal\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:00:00","slug":"jon-jones-requests-ufc-release-after-white-house-event-reveal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/03\/jon-jones-requests-ufc-release-after-white-house-event-reveal\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon Jones Requests UFC Release After White House Event Reveal"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Jon Jones is pushing back against claims surrounding his absence from an upcoming event organized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, turning a routine fight announcement into a public dispute that has spilled across press conferences and social media.<\/p>\n<p>The controversy began after the UFC revealed the fight card for a June 14 event planned at the White House. Fans quickly noticed that Jones, one of the most decorated champions in mixed martial arts history, was missing from the lineup. The omission sparked speculation across the MMA community.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hey everyone, I wanted to address Dana White\u2019s comments from this past weekend, because the truth matters to me and the fans.<br \/>Dana, you were heated about why I\u2019m not on the White House card, but let\u2019s clear something up. My team and I were actually negotiating with the UFC for\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonnyBones\/status\/2031103838590021805?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>During a press conference following UFC 326, UFC leadership addressed the situation, dismissing the idea that Jones had been considered for the card.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNever ever, ever, which I told you guys 100,000 times, was Jon Jones even remotely in my mind to fight at the White House,\u201d the promotion said. Officials also suggested that hip arthritis could prevent Jones from competing again.<\/p>\n<p>Jones responded publicly on March 9, challenging that explanation and claiming negotiations with the UFC had taken place days earlier.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy team and I were actually negotiating with the UFC for that fight,\u201d Jones wrote on X. \u201cReal negotiations. I even came down from my original number, and what was I offered in return? I was lowballed.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-jon-jones-asks-for-ufc-release-after-absence-from-upcoming-white-house-mma-event\">Jon Jones Asks For UFC Release After Absence From Upcoming White House MMA Event<\/h2>\n<p>The former champion said discussions continued as recently as Friday. He also revealed he received stem-cell treatment last week while preparing to begin training camp.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, I have arthritis in my hip and it\u2019s painful, but that doesn\u2019t mean I can\u2019t fight,\u201d Jones wrote. \u201cIf I had accepted the lowball offer, suddenly my hip would be fine?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jones also rejected suggestions that his career has ended. The 38-year-old holds a 28-1 professional record and previously captured both UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight titles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI understand business deals fall through sometimes,\u201d he wrote. \u201cBut saying things publicly that aren\u2019t true isn\u2019t right.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Papoose DISSED 50 Cent, Nicki Minaj's Controversial Women's Day Message + Biggie Smalls' Legacy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iWnJbW9vL7M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Jones added that UFC officials recently contacted him seeking his participation for a smaller purse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the UFC truly feels like I\u2019m done, then I respectfully ask to be released from my contract today,\u201d Jones wrote. \u201cNo more spins, no more games.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jon Jones is pushing back against claims surrounding his absence from an upcoming event organized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14044,"featured_media":3578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[10,9],"class_list":["post-3486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-rss","tag-culture","tag-hip-hop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14044"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}