For years, UFC fighters have flirted with Hollywood. From Ronda Rousey throwing hands and people around in Furious 7 to Georges St-Pierre squaring off with Captain America, the Octagon’s biggest stars have all felt the pull of the big screen. But now, another name is joining that list, and it’s one no one can ignore, Jon “Bones” Jones.

The former UFC heavyweight champion is easing into a new chapter as on a recent appearance on the No Scripts Podcast, Jones confessed, “I definitely love acting,” before laughing as the host told him he was a natural.

Jon Jones’s Hollywood dreams get a brutal reality check from Dana White

“You know what? I do feel like a little bit of a natural at it,” he admitted. “So far, everything I’ve got to do, I’m playing myself. Maybe I’m not challenging myself with more difficult roles. But acting would be nice.” And it’s not just talk. In late 2024, Jones wrapped filming for ‘Edo’s Crossing’, a short action film where he played a special ops soldier.

Decked out in tactical gear, tossing prop grenades, and charging through doors, “Lieutenant Bones” looked right at home as he shared on Instagram, “Get into acting they said, it’d be fun they said… Man, what a humbling experience. Stepping into acting feels like a whole new game, and I’m ready to put in the work, just like I always have. I’m honored, I’m motivated, and I’m excited for what’s ahead. This is only the beginning.”

That wasn’t all, as he also featured in the French Netflix show, ‘La Cage’, where names like Ciryl Gane, GSP, and Morgan Charriere also shared the screen with him.  But while Jones seems determined to explore his creative side, not everyone in the fight world is cheering him on. UFC boss Dana White, who has seen plenty of his athletes make the Hollywood leap, doesn’t exactly have faith in fighters-turned-actors.

In an interview with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo on their Pound4Pound channel on YouTube, White gave a rare glimpse into his Hollywood skepticism as he confessed, “So, I end up going to the premiere with my kids and I was a big A-Team fan, I love Mr.T, the whole deal. And I have had tons of fighters try to be actors, right? And I have yet to see one of them that ever f— did a good job acting in a f— movie, right?”

Then, with a smirk, White recounted one moment that changed his mind, Jones’s rival, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s performance as B.A. Baracus in The A-Team. According to the UFC head honcho in the video, “They gave that to f— Rampage, a guy who had never acted before, right? So, I’m just trying to set up the amount of negativity that I had going into this f— movie.  Not only did I love the movie, I thought it was great. I’ve watched that movie a hundred times. I thought Rampage f— killed it. I give him where the credit is due, he never acted before. And he f— killed that role. I still to this day will stand behind Rampage and that Rampage f— was incredible in that movie.”

It’s high praise from a man not known for handing out compliments easily. And in some ways, it hints at what Jon Jones might be chasing, that same crossover success, the kind that cements a fighter’s legacy outside the cage.

After all, the lure of acting has always been strong for fighters. Conor McGregor starred opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Road House. Kamaru Usman appeared in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. And Valentina Shevchenko fought Halle Berry in Bruised. The crossover works only sometimes, because according to Rampage, he got into trouble with the UFC boss for chasing his Hollywood dream!

Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson reveals why choosing ‘The A-Team’ hurt his relationship with White

Back in 2009, Rampage Jackson was one of the UFC’s biggest names. A former light heavyweight champion, fresh off wins over Wanderlei Silva and Keith Jardine, he was expected to headline against rival Rashad Evans at UFC 107. The stage was set for his long-awaited hometown fight in Memphis. But then Hollywood called.

As the former champion explained in his interview with Chris Van Vliet, “That’s when our relationship went more south, I took a movie over a fight one time. A-Team… That was the toughest decision I had to make in my career.” The offer was too tempting to ignore, with a leading role as B.A. Baracus, the character immortalized by Mr. T in the original A-Team show.

Jackson didn’t deny the internal conflict as he confessed, “Because I really wanna fight in Memphis in my hometown, and I really feel like if I would have fought Rashad at that time, I would hurt his feelings bad.” But to Dana White, there was no justification. The UFC boss was furious, later telling reporters, “If you’d rather be on the set of ‘The A-Team,’ then you definitely don’t belong in the Octagon.”

The irony? Rampage didn’t even profit much from the move as he shared that he got paid less than 10% of what his fight income was at that time, and revealed, “All I can say about that is that the manager I had at the time was a f—— idiot, and he thought it was a good idea to sign with the same agency that represented the UFC. I didn’t get any more movie offers…”

Unlike Rampage, Jon Jones isn’t running from fighting, he’s reinventing himself beyond it. Yet Dana White’s skepticism looms large. The boss may have finally praised Jackson’s performance in The A-Team, but his message was clear: the Octagon and Hollywood rarely mix well!