Dana White wouldn’t ‘take the risk’ of Jon Jones headlining UFC card right now: SiriusXM Town Hall

Dana White has made it clear that Jon Jones won’t be headlining any UFC cards when he returns from a one-year substance abuse ban.

The UFC president joined Jim Rome recently at a SiriusXM town hall event ahead of UFC 205 in New York City to discuss Jones, a potential fighters’ union and the historic first fight in The Capital of the World on Nov. 12.

Despite being “one of the greatest talents” White has ever seen, White said Jones’ consistently poor decisions – most recently failing a drug test and receiving a one-year ban from fighting – has led him to lose somewhere in the range of $15 to $20 million.

“I would never take the risk of headlining a show with Jon Jones again,” White said. “I would put him on the card but I wouldn’t headline with him until he consistently gets back on track.”

When asked his feelings about a potential UFC fighters’ union, White had a similar tone: “Good luck.”

“Unions don’t necessarily make things better, careful what you wish for,” White said. “A union wouldn’t be my problem, the union would be the fighters’ problem.”

Taking matters back into the octagon, White also talked about the UFC’s long road to New York City. Conor McGregor headlined the promotion’s first event ever in the state at Madison Square Garden. As is expected by now, McGregor has made headlines with his antics – showing up 20 minutes late to the press conference, grabbing a chair and, at least for a second, appearing to want to smash opponent Eddie Alvarez’s head with it. White says the UFC star does get some leniency that other fighters do not, but according to White, it’s not without good reason.

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