Former UFC champion Daniel Cormier does not often defend longtime rival Jon Jones. The two built one of the sport’s most heated rivalries during their careers. Still, Cormier admitted he felt some sympathy after learning that Jones would not be part of the upcoming UFC fight card scheduled at the White House.
The promotion recently revealed several matchups for the special June event. One surprise for many fans was the absence of Jones. The former light heavyweight champion stepped away from competition in 2025, yet he recently returned to the drug testing program and spoke publicly about wanting to fight at that event.
Because of that push, many observers believed Jones might face Alex Pereira. Both fighters had mentioned interest in that matchup. Instead, the promotion confirmed that Pereira will meet Ciryl Gane in a fight for an interim heavyweight title.
Cormier spoke about the situation on his YouTube channel and explained why he believes the moment probably hurts for Jones.
“I kind of felt bad for him,” Cormier said. “I felt bad for Jon, because it just seemed like he wanted to fight on that card, bad.”
Cormier Looks Back at Jones Career Choices
During the discussion, Cormier also talked about how Jones’ career path has changed over time. He suggested that the former champion once had the ability to headline major events whenever he wanted because of his star power.
“Think about this — and I’ve said this time and time again — I think Jon got to fight Stipe [Miocic] because he goes, ‘Give me this legacy one, and I’ll give you the [Tom] Aspinall fight.’ Then he reneged. ‘I’m retired.’”
“Then he goes, ‘I kind of want to fight at the White House.’ I think this is kind of like a come-to-Jesus moment. At 28, 29, no matter what you did, when he got that event cancelled with Chael, they said, ‘You’ll never headline again.’ But he was selling PPVs, so you had to go back to him. But at 38, 39, he’s got bad hips and injuries, and it looks like he’s on his way out. They’re kind of like, ‘You’re not going to prove value for me in the long term, so I don’t think we need bend over for you anymore.’ It’s crazy.”
Tension Between Jones and the Promotion
The relationship between Jones and the UFC has seen many ups and downs across the years. Leading up to the White House announcement, questions about trust also came up publicly. UFC leadership had previously suggested that they were not confident in Jones headlining such an important event.
After the lineup became official, Jones responded on social media. He confirmed that discussions had taken place but claimed the offer he received did not meet his expectations. Jones also stated that if the promotion truly believes his fighting career is finished, then he would prefer to be released from his contract.
Cormier reacted to the exchange and suggested that one particular accusation may have bothered Jones the most.
“That’s not the first time [White’s] said anything derogatory about him,” Cormier said. “It’s hard to get that upset when someone’s actually shown you that behavior before, but right now, it seems like it just really bothered him that he was getting called a liar.”
“I’ve called him everything. He’s been called negative stuff for years, but now it’s like this thing bothered him. I honestly think maybe it was because the White House thing meant something to him.”
He pointed out that allowing Jones to leave could open the door for massive fights outside the organization. One example would be a possible bout with Francis Ngannou, a matchup fans have discussed for years.
“There’s no way you can release Jones, because then Jones and Francis [Ngannou] can be made outside of the UFC, that’s you giving someone power,” Cormier said. “You can’t let him go. There’s no way that he could actually fight anywhere else or be released. I don’t think he’s getting released.”
For now, the special UFC event at the White House will go forward without Jones. Even so, the debate surrounding the former champion continues to draw attention from fans and fighters across the sport.
