Jon Jones has his sights set on returning to action when the UFC goes to the White House for a historic event in 2026 and he already has an opponent in mind.
Well technically, Jones is seeking the person holding onto the belt he relinquished after briefly announcing his retirement only to decide he wanted to compete again following President Donald Trump announcing plans to bring a UFC event to the White House as part of his plans for the America 250 celebration next July. In a perfect world, Jones would headline the UFC White House card against the heavyweight champion — no matter who has the title at that time.
“I would want to take on whoever’s holding the belt at the end of the year,” Jones told Joy of Everything on TikTok. “As of right now, the champion is Tom Aspinall but we’ll see who’s the champion at the end of the year. I feel like it would only be fitting to have an American guy fight for the championship that night.”
Jones was attached to a fight against Aspinall for most of 2025 until he suddenly decided to call it a career. UFC CEO Dana White claimed numerous times he had a deal in place for Jones to face Aspinall, most likely when the promotion returns to Madison Square Garden in New York in November, but plans fell apart.
Jones barely got to enjoy his gold watch and time share before he was already declaring plans to return from retirement, which also included re-enrolling in the UFC’s anti-doping program. White confirmed Jones has returned to the drug-testing pool to clear his way for a comeback.
The end goal is landing a spot on that White House card and Jones acknowledges the magnitude of that event is effectively what brought him back rather than seeking out any particular opponent.
“I think it’s exciting,” Jones said about the White House card. “Very exciting. I can’t promise anything but I have a very strong feeling that I’ll be on that card.
“I think it’s going to be incredibly iconic. It’s going to be historic. In my opinion, it will be just as big as the Thrilla in Manilla, Rumble in the Jungle, it’s up there with that. It could be bigger than that.”
As soon as Jones retired, the UFC promoted Aspinall to undisputed champion and the British star claimed the promotion already booked him in a new fight. All signs are pointing towards Aspinall battling Ciryl Gane later this year with Jones calling for the winner.
Jones dispatched Gane in just over two minutes when they met for the vacant heavyweight title back in 2023 and Aspinall is heavily favored to deliver a similar result.
Finally getting the Jones fight might sound like Aspinall’s dream come true after he pushed for that matchup from the moment Aspinall captured the interim title back in 2023. Then again, judging by how everything played out leading to Jones’ sudden retirement, this might all end up as another nightmare for Aspinall.
