On Saturday night at UFC 320, Alex Pereira pulled off a massive win over Magomed Ankalaev to win his belt back and become a two-time UFC light heavyweight champion. It was undoubtedly one of the biggest
wins of his career, but instead of focusing on himself he shifted the spotlight away.
On Friday afternoon (Oct. 3, 2025), UFC legend Jon Jones’ oldest brother and former NFL player Arthur Jones was found dead in his home at just 39 years of age. Early reports point to a possible heart issue, as his pacemaker sent an alert to doctors in the early hours of the day.
“I had a whole speech prepared tonight, I talked to my team over it,” Pereira said through a translator. “But we got some news recently, something’s happened, so I want to give my respect to Jon Jones and his whole family and I want to ask everyone here and everyone at home to take a moment of silence for his brother.”
The generally rowdy (and occasionally downright disrespectful) Las Vegas crowd fell to a hush for what was truly a memorable moment and a beautiful message of support for “Bones” and his family at this terrible time.
Jon Jones, who hadn’t made a public comment regarding the terrible loss, took to X (formerly Twitter) to acknowledge Pereira’s actions
“Wow Alex,” he wrote, adding a praying emoji.
Pereira knows Jones’ unfathomable pain. The Brazilian fighter also had a brother who died at just 18 years of age. This is just a reminder that it’s not just the action in the cage that Pereira provides but his actions outside that make him one of the most impressive fighters in the UFC right now.
