Conor McGregor: Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen map out UFC White House card with Jon Jones, Conor McGregor, and more

Both Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen's UFC White House wish list have Conor McGregor and Jon Jones.

Although Dana White has revealed that he'd only start building the card by February, that didn't stop the promotional legends from mapping out a potential lineup for the historic event on the Good Guy/Bad Guy podcast.

As 'DC' sees it, matchmakers should slot the sport's biggest star, McGregor, against Michael Chandler in the co-main event, with Jones and Tom Aspinall headlining the card:

"Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler, I believe he'd be the co-main event. That would be too big of an ask to ask him to go fight [in the] main event. You have to have somebody fighting for a title, and it needs to be an American guy. We are celebrating our great country. We have to have a hero... I pleaded to Dana White over the weekend to let [Jon] Jones on... If you're putting together the greatest card of all time, isn't he included?"

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Sonnen suggests that Jones and Aspinall duke it out early in 2026, to then set up a rematch on the UFC White House card, a sentiment Cormier agrees with:

"If Tom Aspinall can get through Ciryl Gane in October, He fights Jones in like February, they can [then] fight again in June. Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall 2 makes all the sense in the world."

The pair also picked former bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley, former interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, and the reigning women's bantamweight queen Kayla Harrison, as other Americans to potentially represent the nation during the America250 festivities.

Daniel Cormier suggests $1 million contract clause to ensure Jon Jones fights at UFC White House

As soon as Donald Trump announced the UFC White House card, Jon Jones cut his MMA retirement short, declaring his intentions to represent his country on the historic event.

However, Dana White is wary of risking the card on Jones, after the New Yorker reportedly chose retirement over a previously agreed-upon fight against Tom Aspinall.

While Daniel Cormier acknowledges the UFC head honchos' concerns, he believes the matchmakers could allow 'Bones' to fight on the card with stringent measures in place to prevent him from backing out. Addressing the topic on his YouTube channel, 'DC' said:

"I think that I would let him fight... at the end of the day, we’re fighting at the White House. You want American people that can win at the end of the night... If you put Jon Jones on the White House card, say something happens in the lawn and he has to be pulled off the card, a million dollars [fined]. Say he doesn’t want to fight, a million dollars. Say he gets injured, then it should be less as long as the injury can be proven. If the injury is proven, charge him nothing... You put these safe guys in place, make sure he shows up there. [8:13 minutes into the video]"

About the author

Ujwal Jain is a sports journalist who covers MMA at Sportskeeda and holds a bachelor's degree in mass communication and journalism. He has been practicing martial arts from an early age and won several accolades at national-level competitions in karate and Taekwondo. He also holds a back belt in karate. Ujwal loves fact-checking, helping out with related research, and being a fresh set of eyes for fellow writers’ articles.

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