Alex Pereira wants to fight Jon Jones at UFC White House.
“Poatan” is even willing to move up to heavyweight to challenge “Bones,” two weight classes higher than where he started when making his Octagon
debut at UFC 268 back in late 2021. Unfortunately, UFC CEO Dana White is not a fan of the matchup, which is also hampered by the fact that Jones is retired from combat sports.
Jones, currently on the run from heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, has also shown interest in fighting Pereira and could worm his way into next summer’s UFC White House lineup — where he’s currently unwelcome — by making a drop back down to the light heavyweight division, a weight class he ruled for several years.
That’s according to former opponent, Chael Sonnen.
“If I’m in Jon Jones’s shoes and I hear this and I feel this buzz, there’s this huge fight and it has all of a sudden got my interest, but there’s no title on the line. I can fix that real fast,” Sonnen told Daniel Cormier on their ESPN show. “I can say, ‘I can fight you and I’ll even find a world title, because it’s gonna be yours. I’ll see you at 205 pounds.’ If Jon Jones does that, my partner, we’re having a very different conversation.”
It may be a mismatch, regardless of weight class.
“The matchup is literally the nightmare matchup for Alex Pereira,” retired UFC welterweight Matt Brown told MMA Fighting. “Jon is as big, probably a little bit bigger than Alex Pereira. At heavyweight, certainly bigger. A million times better wrestler. There’s no way in hell that Alex has wrestling at Jon Jones’ level at this point. Even if Jon Jones is out doing cocaine for the last year and then just shows up and fights.”
“Is it a sport or is it entertainment?” Brown continued. “Entertainment wise, I think we talked a little bit about the White House card, period, is this going to be make the biggest fights you can or make relevant fights? If you’re making the biggest fights you can, you go with Alex Pereira-Jon Jones, 100 percent, especially if you’re Dana [White] and you trust that Jon is going to make it there on time or not go to jail in the meantime or anything. That’s a no-brainer in terms of the biggest fight you could potentially make.”
White is expected to start constructing the White House lineup in February.
