Dana White has named his four-fight dream UFC card — and Tom Aspinall vs Jon Jones sits at the top of it.
“Paddy Pimblett versus Ilia Topuria is a huge fight that makes sense and can happen and should happen.”
The UFC president built the card in a recent Bleacher Report video, "Dana White Reacts to UFC 334 Fighters Building His Dream Card," in which fighters pitched him matchups and he decided which ones belonged. White set one rule for the exercise: he is not interested in hypothetical fights that cannot happen. He prefers matchups he considers achievable.
His four: Aspinall vs Jones, Paddy Pimblett vs Ilia Topuria, Petr Yan vs Sean O'Malley 2, and Josh Hokit vs Alex Pereira. Three of the four are White's own picks. The fourth — Hokit vs Pereira — is Hokit's pick, which White included.
None of the four fights is booked. They are White's hypothetical picks, nothing more.
Aspinall vs Jones is the fight White has wanted longest. He previously named it as his dream main event for the UFC White House card, telling the Full Send Podcast in July 2025: "The dream main event right now would be Aspinall vs. Jones."
It is also the fight with the most history behind it. Jones retired in June 2025, with White announcing it at the UFC Baku post-fight press conference on June 21, 2025: "Jon Jones called us last night and retired. Jon Jones is officially retired, and Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC." Aspinall was promoted from interim to undisputed champion.
Aspinall no longer holds the title. He vacated the heavyweight championship in September 2026 — announced Monday, September 14 — because of ongoing complications with his vision and eye damage from UFC 321 against Ciryl Gane in October 2025, when Gane's fingers went into both of his eyes. Aspinall had eye surgery, and doctors refused to clear him for a UFC 334 rematch against Gane.
White's own words on Jones carry a tension he did not resolve. He said Jones is "definitely retired," but added he would "love it" if 'Bones' wanted to compete again. "I'd do it in a minute," he said — before later including Jones on his four-fight card. Jones re-entered the UFC drug-testing pool shortly after retiring and has been tested four times in 2026. He did not get his wish of fighting at UFC Freedom 250, the White House card, in June 2026.
Pimblett vs Topuria was White's pick over a bigger fantasy name. Uros Medic suggested Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor; White turned it down and chose Pimblett vs Topuria instead. "Paddy Pimblett versus Ilia Topuria is a huge fight that makes sense and can happen and should happen," White said. "Those are the kinds of fights I like talking about."
The matchup has plenty behind it. Topuria is the former lightweight champion — he lost the belt to Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 in June 2026; his last three wins before that loss were KOs over Volkanovski, Holloway and Oliveira. Pimblett lost to Justin Gaethje in an interim title fight at UFC 324 in January 2026, then rebounded with a 52-second submission win over Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 329 in July.
Yan vs O'Malley 2 is the rematch of one of the most disputed decisions in recent UFC history. The first fight, at UFC 280 on October 22, 2022, at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, ended with O'Malley winning by split decision, 29-28, 28-29, 29-28. Twenty-five of 26 media scorecards scored the fight for Yan.
Hokit vs Pereira is the outlier on the list — the pick of the man who fights for the heavyweight title tonight. "That's a fight that makes sense," White said of Hokit vs Pereira, and added that it could happen regardless of whether Hokit wins or loses later today. Hokit, "The Incredible Hok," headlines UFC 334 against Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight title. Gane won the interim heavyweight title for a second time at UFC Freedom 250 in June 2026, beating Pereira — and was promoted to undisputed champion in September 2026 after Aspinall vacated. He defends the title tonight at UFC 334.
Not every suggestion survived White's rule. Gane suggested Jon Jones vs Francis Ngannou; White turned it down. Kayla Harrison wanted to fight Ronda Rousey; White turned that down too. White ruled out Nurmagomedov and Rousey because he does not believe there is any chance either would fight again, and he has remained adamant that Khabib is not coming back.
One more suggestion earned White's approval without making the card. Caio Borralho suggested Anderson Silva vs Georges St-Pierre, and White agreed it is a matchup that should have happened — but it did not make his final list.
The timing is no accident. UFC 334 takes place tonight, Saturday, November 14, at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main event is Gane vs Hokit for the heavyweight title, with Kayla Harrison vs Amanda Nunes for the women's bantamweight title as the co-main event. The main card begins at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT on Paramount+.
White's dream card is exactly that — a dream. But the man at the top of tonight's card is on it, and the fight at the top of White's list is one he first named as his dream main event in July 2025. His rule was clear: only fights that can happen need apply.
