UFC’s White House card was supposed to be the kind of event that everyone wanted in. Fighters have been openly campaigning for a spot on the South Lawn ever since Dana White first hinted at the event, and Jon Jones was one of the loudest voices. For months, it felt like ‘Bones’ was nearly begging to be a part of it, dropping hints, talking about negotiations, and making it seem as if it were only a matter of time.

That’s why the final announcement during the UFC 326 broadcast felt a little strange. The card was revealed, huge names were confirmed, and title matches were booked, but Jon Jones wasn’t there. At first, it seemed like another fight had fallen apart behind the scenes, but the more details that came out, the clearer it became that this was not a fight that had fallen through. Instead, it might have been about money.

Ariel Helwani claims Jon Jones turned down White House fight

After the card was announced, Ariel Helwani added a detail that changed the whole story. According to the UFC insider, the UFC made sincere efforts to book Jon Jones for the White House event, but the conversations never reached the level required to make the fight happen.

“I’ll tell you this, they did seriously try to have Jon Jones on this card, and they couldn’t get to the number,” Helwani said on Uncrowned.

That corresponds to Dana White‘s claim that a fight was called off at the last minute, though Helwani made it clear he doesn’t think that was the same situation people were talking about online.

“Now, a lot of people are talking about this fight that fell through,” he added. I don’t think that that’s the fight that fell through last night.

That’s not what I was told.”

That’s what makes the whole situation awkward. Jon Jones had been talking for weeks about how much he wanted the fight, even implying that he was still negotiating. However, when the lineup for the event, now called Freedom 250, was announced, his name was nowhere to be found.

Instead, the main event is Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje, with Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane serving as the co-main, and several other major names rounding out the short six-fight card.

The White House event was already under a lot of pressure due to its unconventional nature. It’s not every day that the UFC hosts an event on the South Lawn, backed by a US president, with a broadcast deal tied to a major network. That kind of stage felt ideal for someone like ‘Bones,’ which is why his absence stood out more than anyone else’s.

Now the talk isn’t really about who made the card but who didn’t. Conor McGregor and Jon Jones are not on it, and those are the stars fans expected to headline such a major event. If Ariel Helwani’s report is true, it means the UFC didn’t pull the plug. It was a case of the numbers not matching up.

Now, it would be interesting to see what the former heavyweight champion will have to say about it. As for Conor McGregor, the Irishman has already revealed that missing out on the White House fight has left him with a broken heart.

Conor McGregor left heartbroken by the White House plans snub

With Jon Jones out of the picture, the next name fans anticipated seeing was Conor McGregor. But just like ‘Bones,’ he did not make the final lineup. That made the scenario even more shocking, because for months it seemed that the White House card would be exactly where his return would happen.

Instead, the UFC rescheduled him for a new date, and ‘The Notorious’ admitted the change didn’t feel great. For a long time, the concept was simple: McGregor versus Michael Chandler at the White House event. McGregor himself stated that the fight made sense and that he had been working toward it for years.

However, the promotion began to consider other options, and International Fight Week was eventually chosen as the new target, with the White House card taking place without him.

“I feel a bit weird,” he said in a recent appearance on Smash Cast. “He deserved a go, and you know it would be a great fight.

It makes sense; it’s easy done. It gets me back in there, but they veered off it.”

McGregor described missing that event as “heart-breaking,” even though he understands the logic behind it.

“Listen, we’re all in this,” the Irishman added. “We’re all chasing his dream, and I appreciate Michael, and I like the fight.

I’ve been preparing for it for the last three, four f— years… I want to do it again, but look, I don’t know. I can’t decide what these men do.”

According to him, the White House show is already massive enough, so adding him to another card offers the UFC two significant events rather than one. Still, with Conor McGregor and Jon Jones missing from such a historic lineup, it’s understandable that fans are focusing more on who isn’t fighting than who actually is.