Jon Jones Reveals 'Severe' Hip Injury in Video amid UFC White House Fight Card Rumors

Former UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has made it clear that he wants to fight on the White House card this summer, but it sounds like there's a chance his body won't let him.

A video surfaced of Jones revealing that he has an ailing hip and is already in need of a replacement at 38 years old.

"I have severe arthritis, and most people don't know that," Jones said, per ESPN's Brett Okamoto. "My left hip is covered in arthritis. I actually already qualify for a hip replacement. My last training camp, dude, I went to bed in so much pain."

Jones made the revelation to UFC welterweight Joaquin Buckley, who had asked him about potentially facing his longtime rival Daniel Cormier in a traditional wrestling match. While he beat Cormier in both of their meetings in the Octagon, it sounds like he wants no parts of seeing him on the wrestling mat due to his injury.

Jones later issued a statement on the video, via TMZ's Michael J. Babcock:

Despite being universally regarded as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, Jones lost his luster with the UFC over the last year. He was expected to face Tom Aspinall in a title unification fight, but he refused to agree to the matchup for months before suddenly announcing his retirement in June, vacating his title and elevating Aspinall from interim heavyweight champion to the undisputed titleholder.

However, Jones rescinded his retirement announcement less than a month later after UFC president Dana White announced the plans to hold an event at the White House. Okamoto noted that he has since been campaigning for a fight at the June 12 event against UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. White previously indicated that he's not interested in booking Jones for the historic fight card.

"I haven't said yes or no to anybody yet, but I can't put Jon Jones in a position where he can [affect this]," White said in November. "I had a deal with him — we had a deal to fight Tom Aspinall. We had a deal and he said, 'You know what? I'm not going to do it.' I can't be in that position. I've got to have someone [reliable]."

While Jones hasn't expressed any reservations about returning to the Octagon, the revelation of his injured hip, coupled with White's disinterest in doing business with him, could be enough to continue to keep him out of action.