Latest news with #UFC295
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Jon Jones Doubles Down on Intentions to Fight on Historic UFC White House Card
Images via Imagn: Donald Trump and Jon Jones At the UFC Baku post-fight presser, Dana White confirmed that Jon Jones was finally hanging up his gloves after an illustrious career. This announcement came amid the long wait for Jones to unify the heavyweight title against Tom Aspinall, who held the interim gold since UFC 295. However, 'Bones' didn't see the merit in fighting a young and hungry Englishman and announced his retirement a day after the UFC head honcho made it official. However, it seems that Jones is once again eager to come back and resume his hunt to be the best. This change of heart has arisen due to Donald Trump 's announcement of the UFC holding a card on the lawns of the White House on America's 250th birthday in 2026. Moreover, even White confirmed that the event will go down on 4th July next year. Jon Jones Is Confident of Main Eventing the UFC White House Card Next Year Just 13 days after announcing his retirement, Jones declared that he has re-entered the drug testing pool to appear on the historic card. And in a conversation with TMZ earlier this week, 'Bones' reaffirmed his intention of fighting for the pride of America. 'That's the goal. We haven't had a conversation about it, but I have a very strong feeling that I'll be fighting that night, for sure.' This isn't the first time this week that the former heavyweight champion has expressed his intention to return to the Octagon. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Many Are Watching Tariffs - Few Are Watching What Nvidia Just Launched Seeking Alpha Read More Undo Jon Jones Confident He'll Fight At Trump's White House UFC Event, 'Strong Feeling' | TMZ Sports In a conversation with Joy of Everything's Joe Andaloro, Jones said that he would be ready to take on the reigning heavyweight king by the time the UFC White House card rolls around. He even teased a showdown with Aspinall if he held the strap at the time of the event. And finally, Jones once again doubled down on returning at the ESPY's red carpet event. However, it seems that the UFC President is not keen on watching his crown jewel return to the cage. Dana White Is Not on Board for Jon Jones to Return to the UFC White House Event UFC 318 proved to be the final fight of Dustin Poirier's career. However, the post-fight presser saw the conversation shift to Jones fighting at UFC White House, slated to take place on 4th July 2026. When asked about the prospect of the former heavyweight champion appearing on the card, White said something surprising. 'It's not even about him winning the belt. You know how I felt about him. You know I can't risk putting him in big positions in a big spot and have something go wrong – especially the White House card." This hesitancy stems from the fact that Jones was responsible for ruining perhaps the biggest heavyweight fight in UFC history when he didn't fight Aspinall. Moreover, he has a history of pulling out of major cards like the UFC 200 showdown with Daniel Cormier just days before the event. White is currently focused on discussing the logistics and arrangements for the card rather than the actual fights on it. Also read: UFC 318 Main Match Card Highlights and Results: Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier, Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov and More Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
Scottish Sun
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Donald Trump plots shock UFC title fight at the White House as Dana White ‘confirms' plan for 2026 card
Dana White has broken his silence on the President's grand plans OCTA WOW Donald Trump plots shock UFC title fight at the White House as Dana White 'confirms' plan for 2026 card DONALD TRUMP has revealed sensational plans to host a UFC event at the White House next year. Trump, 79, has been a regular attendee of events staged by mixed martial arts' premier promotion over the years and is good pals with UFC headhoncho Dana White. 4 Donald Trump is a long-time fan of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Credit: REUTRS 4 The President plans to have UFC supremo Dana White stage a fight card at the White House Credit: AFP 4 Trump revealed his shock plans during a rally in Iowa Credit: MEGA And the President plans to host an epic fight night, which will include a title fight, on the grounds surrounding 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Speaking at an event in Iowa ahead of the 250th anniversary of America's independence, Trump said: "All of our national park battlefields and historic sites are going to have special events in honour of America 250. "And I even think we're going to have a UFC fight. 'Does anybody watch UFC [and] the great Dana White? READ MORE UFC NEWS TOP'S OFF Paddy Pimblett breaks silence on 'leaked' next fight after Ilia Topuria face off "We're going to have a UFC fight, think of this, on the grounds of the White House. We have a lot of land there.' He added: "A championship fight, full fight, like 20, 25,000 people.' According to the Hollywood Reporter, a UFC official has confirmed Trump and White's plans to host a fight card on the White House grounds. White seemingly did so himself by sharing a post of Trump announcing his plans on his Instagram story early on Friday morning. JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS 4 Donald Trump has been attending UFC events for over two decades Credit: AP Trump has been attending UFC events for the best of 25 years and even hosted a card - UFC 30 at the Trump Taj Mahal - in February 2001. Reflecting on his relationship with the President in an interview with Tucker Carlson, White said: "This guy has been so good to me it's unexplainable. Donald Trump arrives at UFC 295 to insane chorus of cheers as long-time pal of Dana White takes in historic card "He's been a very good friend to me since the day I met him. "When we bought this company it had such a bad stigma attached to it and the sport that we couldn't even get into venues, they didn't want us. "Donald Trump saw that this thing could possibly be big. "Plus he's a sports guy who loves sports, and he offered us to come do the event at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. "He cut us a very fair deal and we went down there and did two events with him where he showed up for the first fight and stayed until the last fight. "Imagine back then; Trump brand is way up, UFC brand is way down, but he took us in and he was great."
The Irish Sun
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Donald Trump plots shock UFC title fight at the White House as Dana White ‘confirms' plan for 2026 card
DONALD TRUMP has revealed sensational plans to host a UFC event at the White House next year. Trump, 79, has been a regular attendee of events staged by mixed martial arts' premier promotion over the years and is good pals with UFC headhoncho Dana White. 4 Donald Trump is a long-time fan of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Credit: REUTRS 4 The President plans to have UFC supremo Dana White stage a fight card at the White House Credit: AFP 4 Trump revealed his shock plans during a rally in Iowa Credit: MEGA And the President plans to host an epic fight night, which will include a title fight, on the grounds surrounding 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Speaking at an event in Iowa ahead of the 250th anniversary of America's independence, Trump said: "All of our national park battlefields and historic sites are going to have special events in honour of America 250. "And I even think we're going to have a UFC fight. 'Does anybody watch UFC [and] the great Dana White ? READ MORE UFC NEWS "We're going to have a UFC fight, think of this, on the grounds of the White House. We have a lot of land there.' He added: "A championship fight, full fight, like 20, 25,000 people.' According to the White seemingly did so himself by sharing a post of Trump announcing his plans on his Instagram story early on Friday morning. Most read in MMA JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS 4 Donald Trump has been attending UFC events for over two decades Credit: AP Trump has been attending UFC events for the best of 25 years and even hosted a card - UFC 30 at the Trump Taj Mahal - in February 2001. Reflecting on his relationship with the President in an interview with Tucker Carlson, White said: "This guy has been so good to me it's unexplainable. Donald Trump arrives at UFC 295 to insane chorus of cheers as long-time pal of Dana White takes in historic card "He's been a very good friend to me since the day I met him. "When we bought this company it had such a bad stigma attached to it and the sport that we couldn't even get into venues, they didn't want us. " Donald Trump saw that this thing could possibly be big. "Plus he's a sports guy who loves sports, and he offered us to come do the event at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. "He cut us a very fair deal and we went down there and did two events with him where he showed up for the first fight and stayed until the last fight. "Imagine back then; Trump brand is way up, UFC brand is way down, but he took us in and he was great."
USA Today
25-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Tom Aspinall's dad 'can't think of a worse way' UFC could've announced son as champ
Tom Aspinall's dad thinks his son deserved better from the UFC. Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) was promoted to undisputed UFC heavyweight champion after Jon Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) retired and relinquished his belt. The announcement came from Dana White during the UFC on ABC 8 post-fight press conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. Aspinall's dad, Andy Aspinall, revealed that he was informed of the news by Hunter Campbell after White's announcement, which left him baffled. "I found out from Tom," Aspinall said in an interview with Uncrowned MMA. "At the same time, Tom was calling me to tell me that Hunter had told him. Hunter text me saying, 'Dana has just announced that Tom is the champ,' which was the same message he had sent Tom. I sent a message back to Hunter saying, 'I can't think of a worse way you could have done it.' I just think it's – I don't know if pathetic is the word, I just feel they didn't think about it. "For me, the heavyweight championship of an organization is quite a big thing, and I don't think Tom deserved to find out at a press conference in the middle of the night. I can't think of a worse way to do it, maybe if they had woke us up to tell us it would have been worse. We just happened to be awake at the time. It's poor man management of Jones and Tom. I like the personnel at the UFC, but for me, they just don't do things right sometimes. Of course it's a massively successful business, but I think something like that deserved more thought after everything we've been through with this." Almost two years have passed since Aspinall claimed the interim heavyweight title with a knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295. He even had to defend his interim belt when he stopped Curtis Blaydes in the first round at UFC 304 last July. It's been a long wait for Aspinall, who constantly heard assurances from the UFC that the title-unification bout with Jones would happen – until news of Jones' retirement emerged this past Saturday.
USA Today
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Dana White gives Jon Jones deadline to lock in Tom Aspinall title unification
Dana White gives Jon Jones deadline to lock in Tom Aspinall title unification Dana White's patience with Jon Jones is running thin. The UFC CEO has always acknowledged that the current UFC heavyweight champion has always been tough to deal with in negotiations, but White is now reaching the point of moving on from a potential title unification bout between Jones and interim champion Tom Aspinall. "Jon Jones has been an interesting human being to deal with since the day he got here," White said on "The Jim Rome Show." "But I will say this about him: you would never hear me out talking about he's the GOAT, he's the this and he's the that, if Jon Jones didn't want to fight people." White recently told reporters that Jones agreed to fight Aspinall, but was also unaware of his recent social media posts that indicated he would be willing to vacate the title. The UFC boss said he looked forward to meeting with Jones to sort things out. According to White, the delay has nothing to do with Jones being scared to fight Aspinall. "Jon Jones has never, ever said, 'I'm afraid to fight this guy,' or 'I don't like this fight for me,' or any of that stuff," White said. "One time, his coach at the time, back in the day – I don't know if he's still with him or whatever. I think it's the only fight we've ever canceled. I had to cancel a show because he wouldn't fight Chael Sonnen, because his coach thought it was a bad idea to take that fight on late notice, but it had nothing to do with Jon Jones. "Jon Jones has never turned down an opponent here or been afraid to fight anybody." Jones has publicly dismissed Aspinall as an opponent on multiple occasions. It's unclear if Jones was simply trolling Aspinall on social media, posturing for better terms while negotiating with the UFC, or perhaps both. Meanwhile, Aspinall has made it clear he has been hungry to unify the title at any given opportunity, and that the situation is more about building his legacy as a champion than fighting Jones. White is now running out of patience with Jones as he decides what to do next in his fighting career. The UFC boss has given a rough deadline for the fight to be finalized in his strongest public stance to date. "We'll see how this thing plays out over the next couple of weeks," White said. "If we can't get this fight done, we'll move on quickly. ... We'll have answers in the next couple weeks." Jones has not fought since UFC 309 in November, where he stopped Stipe Miocic to record his first heavyweight title defense. "Bones" won the vacant heavyweight crown by submitting Ciryl Gane at UFC 265 in March 2023. Aspinall won the interim title by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in November 2023, and then recorded a rarely-seen interim title defense by finishing Curtis Blaydes in the opening round at UFC 304 last July.
