At UFC 318 post-fight presser, Dana White openly stated that the UFC isn’t too thrilled about starring Jon Jones at the White House card. Many believed that ‘Bones’ snubbing the head honcho for the Tom Aspinall fight was the reason. However, as the promotion is all set to execute the spectacle next year under the Paramount+ CBS era, an insider jumped into the conversation, proving why the UFC CEO might be right.

Jon Jones retired from MMA in June without defending his title against Aspinall. But in just weeks, the former two-division champion found himself in the drug-testing pool because he didn’t want to miss an opportunity to fight at the White House. Still, White not showing trust has made ‘Bones’ apologize, which the UFC boss ultimately accepted. But without any proper green signal of the former champ’s involvement in next year’s spectacle, Chael Sonnen believes ‘Bones’ showing demands have essentially lowered his chances to fight at the marquee event. 

Chael Sonnen identifies Jon Jones’ biggest flaw ahead of UFC White House 

“But he’s missing the point. The company coming out and saying that they can’t trust him, and then him making a demand that he will only fight on one condition, that’s what they are saying, ‘Then we can’t trust you,’” ‘The Bad Guy’ stated on the Ariel Helwani show. 

“Nobody gets to pick what card they come back, and they only come back for this. Jon’s doing his best, he’s just not very bright.” 

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Well, Jon Jones wanting to star at the still unofficial White House event is understandable. But as Chael Sonnen pointed out, the fighters actually don’t make that decision. They don’t hold the power to decide which card they would fight. The UFC does. For instance, recently, Alex Pereira came out on his social media and announced that him fighting at the White House event might not be an option, without giving us a hint of what happened behind the scenes. 

That shows if Dana White and Co. don’t consider ‘Poatan’s desire to fight at the White House, they might not give ‘Bones’ that privilege as well. Even if the company’s CEO considers Jones as the GOAT. With that factor in mind, ‘The American Gangster’ again stressed the former 205 & 265 lbs champ picking and choosing an opponent for only one event that he wants to fight, with no long-term plans.

“He doesn’t understand that’s what he’s doing. He’s trying to be a team player, ‘I’ll go fight anybody, I’ll fight Aspinall or fight Ciryl or Pereira.’ He’s missing a point that he’s making a demand. He doesn’t get to be this selective.”  

Now, as the air around ‘Bones’ possible return remains doubtful, we’d get to know whether the promotion, or to be more accurate, White changes his mind or not. However, as Sonnen believes Jones’ return is a tough ask, he holds a similar belief regarding Conor McGregor as well.  

Sonnen believes Conor McGregor won’t fight at the White House  

Alongside Jon Jones, the fans are also hyped for ‘The Notorious’ possible comeback at the White House event. He was one of the first to immediately say yes to fight at the historic South Lawn, and surprisingly, the questions around McGregor’s seriousness became less when he uploaded multiple videos of training. Plus, the Irishman also went through a successful drug-testing session, cementing the possibilities of his comeback even more.

But there are some doubters who are skeptical about ‘Mystic Mac’s anticipated comeback, and Chael Sonnen seems to be one of them. ‘The Bad Guy’ used McGregor’s career trajectory, pointing his finger at multiple promises ‘The Notorious’ has made to make his return, which he couldn’t keep, and labeling it just a tactic to make headlines.

“I do not believe that Conor makes it to the White House. Let’s just live with that theory, though: Will Conor be able to manipulate the media even after he doesn’t make it? He has pretended that he’s coming back for five years. If the White House comes and goes, can he pretend, ‘Oh, I didn’t come there, but you’ll see me in November, you’ll see me next January,’ or will that be the final ruse of McGregor?”

Well, Conor McGregor pulled out of his clash against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 because of injury. Since then, his comeback has been questioned multiple times by the fans. Now, ‘The Notorious’ is healthy and ready to go, but he recently married long-time partner Dee Devlin, which again raised the question of whether he would be able to focus on training.

That said, as per Sonnen, both Jones and McGregor, two of the sport’s biggest superstars, might miss headlining the UFC White House event. So, do you agree with him? Let us know in the comments section below.