Dana White still has a while to plan out the UFC’s White House event.
An idea spoken into existence by President Donald Trump on the Fourth of July, a UFC card at the White House is a go for June 2026.
Said to have under 5,000 in attendance around the Octagon on the South Lawn, UFC fight week could see 85,000 more people at the National Mall in Washington D.C.
Of course, Dana White and the UFC are still working out all the logistics for the event, including what’s expected to be a massive card full of stars.
Many fighters like Colby Covington, the first UFC champion to be invited to the White House, have made their case to fight at the once-in-a-lifetime event, as have Conor McGregor and Jon Jones. Confirming he’s not retired, Jones says he’s been training five times a week for the opportunity.
White isn’t so sure about that, but he apparently has a month in mind for when to start booking fights.
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Dana White puts off White House card until February, could feature Conor McGregor
On The Jim Rome Show, White was asked about the possibility of McGregor, who hasn’t fought since 2021, fighting at The White House.
“Yeah,” White said.
“You know, we’ll see how this thing plays out.
“I’ll start making this card in February,” White confirmed.
“If it all plays out that way, Conor could be on the card.
“This isn’t tennis,” White said of McGregor getting into a ‘lot of trouble’ outside of the Octagon.
“This is the fight business…
“We’re gonna find out,” White said, when asked if McGregor can still do what he wants him to do.
Dana White ‘not worried’ about Jon Jones testing positive for PEDs
White recently mentioned in another interview that he’d trust McGregor over Jones to headline UFC at the White House, admitting he was a ‘little more skeptical’ about Jones.
How come? Well, White said it’s not because of Jones’ history of drug test failures, which have led to a UFC 200 main event cancellation against Daniel Cormier, and an event, UFC 232, being moved across states at the last minute because Jones tested positive for a banned substance.
“I’m never worried about Jones not being clean for performance enhancing drugs,” White admitted to Rome.
“People go crazy over that. Shut up. I’m not worried about that.
“My thing about Jon Jones is in the crunch time,” White said.
“Bad things always happen leading up to fights and all this stuff. Can I count on Jon Jones? That’s my thing.
“Every time,” White said if he holds his breath every time he books Jones for a fight.
“I do believe he’s the greatest of all time. And I also say when you deal with the greats like him, whether it’s him, Anderson Silva, the list goes on and on. It’s almost like these guys are, they’re artists of a sort.
And anytime you deal with artists, stuff happens. It’s part of the business.
“But I like consistency,” White added.
“Who do you want to be in a foxhole with? Those are my kind of guys. I know them all from top to bottom, men and women,” White said of the fighters he likes to work with.