Ariel Helwani drops major UFC White House update as Dana White issues statement

Ariel Helwani has issued a major update on the UFC White House card amid a new statement from president Dana White.

The one-off event will take place on the South Lawn of the White House on June 14 to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Anticipation has been steadily building over recent months, with the project having been backed by US President Donald Trump.

White announced the full card on Sunday, with Ilia Topuria putting his undisputed lightweight title on the line against Justin Gaethje in the main event.

The UFC president has also booked Alex Pereira versus Ciryl Gane for Pereira's light heavyweight belt.

White stated that one intended fight had fallen through during negotiations, with Marca's Irati Prat claiming that the fight in question was between Topuria and UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev.

The UFC were reportedly informed on Friday that Makhachev would not be able to compete.

That is not all, however.

According to respected combat sports journalist Helwani, the UFC have not ruled out booking another match on the White House card despite Sunday's announcement of six fights.

During Monday's episode of 'The Ariel Helwani Show', he stated: "I'm told they may add, they may add, one more before it's all said and done."

"Maybe one more, but that would be it. They may end with this, six fights, and they may add one more."

On the collapsed Topuria vs Makhachev fight, Helwani claimed that the UFC quickly pivoted towards Topuria vs Gaethje when it became clear that Makhachev was not going to be available.

"Mid-last week, Ilia Topuria gets the call," he said. "I had been checking in throughout this whole process, basically from the January 24 card - 'Are they asking Ilia [to fight]?' 'No, no, no, no, no'.

"Mid-last week, they finally reach out, with two questions. 'What are you more interested in, Ilia Topuria vs Islam Makhachev? Or Ilia Topuria vs Justin Gaethje?'

"Ilia Topuria said, per my sources, 'Give me Islam'. I'm going up to 170. Per my sources. That was it."

I had repeatedly been checking throughout this whole process: Are they asking Ilia to fight at the White House?

I repeatedly heard no.

Mid last week, they finally reached out.

They asked Ilia, “What are you more interested in — Islam or Gaethje? One’s at 170, one’s at 155.”… pic.twitter.com/vYTU8w1rCa

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 9, 2026

Helwani then dropped another bombshell, reporting both that Jon Jones was in talks to fight on the card, and that Conor McGregor had agreed to end his near five-year absence from the UFC to fight Carlos Prates before a different direction was taken.

McGregor hasn't publicly commented on his absence from the card, or whether he was indeed scheduled to fight at one stage.

He did post a photo of the card to his Instagram story once it was announced with the caption of 'love it', before adding that it was 'a great card'.

White, meanwhile, shut down suggestions that Jones was even a remote possibility to be included - after the man himself had embarked on a furious rant.

"Never, ever, ever, which I told you guys 100,000 times, was Jon Jones ever remotely in my mind to fight at the White House. I've told you why I wouldn't do it."

"He's got arthritis in his hips," he claimed. "The doctor said he should have a hip replacement.

"Add that on top of all the other reasons that I wouldn't, the Jon Jones thing was bulls**t.

"I'm not saying we weren't talking to Jon Jones and Jon Jones wasn't interested in the fight."

UFC White House card in full

• Ilia Topuria vs Justin Gaethje (main event)
• Alex Pereira vs Ciryl Gane
• Sean O'Malley vs Aiemann Zahabi
• Mauricio Ruffy vs Michael Chandler
• Bo Nickal vs Kyle Daukaus
• Diego Lopes vs Steve Garcia