UFC's Jon Jones Says Potential Alex Pereira Fight Would Be Biggest 'in MMA History'

Original source (on modern site) | Article images: [1] [2]

Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Even though Jon Jones still has a bout with Stipe Miocic that will likely happen at some point, the UFC heavyweight champion also has his sights set on Alex Pereira.

Jones said a potential bout with Pereira, the current UFC light heavyweight champion and former middleweight champion, "would be the biggest fight in MMA history" because of the marketing potential for pitting arguably the greatest fighter of all time against a challenger going for a title in his third different weight class.

BONY @JonnyBones

If Alex P became champion of the heavyweight division, would you guys consider him the GOAT? Being back in the gym has got me thinking differently. That fight after stipe maybe the next biggest move I could possibly make. This killer has already defeated so many champions, and…

BONY @JonnyBones

It would be absolutely massive. A guy with a chance to be three division champion and a goat versus the actual goat. Same age, different strengths. No one can argue that that would be the biggest fight in MMA history. There's absolutely no fight that generates a payday like that.… <a href="https://t.co/B4LGC209sV">https://t.co/B4LGC209sV</a>

The biggest fight in UFC history in terms of pay-per-view buyrate was UFC 229 headlined between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov. The show drew 2.4 million buys, tied with the 2007 bout between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather for the third-most by a combat sports event.

Pereira moved up to light heavyweight last year after dropping the middleweight crown to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287. After scoring a victory over Jan Błachowicz in his debut at 205 pounds, he defeated Jiří Procházka at UFC 295 to win the vacant title.

UFC 300 saw Pereira make his first successful title defense with a first-round knockout of Jamahal Hill. Following that victory, Poatan teased the possibility of a heavyweight fight in his home country of Brazil where UFC 301 is taking place.

ESPN @espn

Alex Pereira says he's ready to go for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC301?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UFC301</a> in Brazil if needed 👀🇧🇷 <a href="https://t.co/G9eMTGLbdf">pic.twitter.com/G9eMTGLbdf</a>

While it's not unheard of for a fighter to have two bouts within three weeks of each other, it's wildly irresponsible both by the fighter and promotion to schedule it. Pereira is not on the card for Saturday's show from Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro.

That may have been a one-time offer because of the special circumstance for Pereira, who said in December a jump to heavyweight "is the kind of thing that has to be programmed, put some work in" to get his body used to moving around and carrying extra mass during fights.

Jones was supposed to defend the heavyweight title against Miocic at UFC 295 in Madison Square Garden. The bout was scrapped when Jones suffered a torn pectoral muscle in training.

Tom Aspinall defeated Sergei Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight title in a bout that was added to the UFC 295 show following Jones' injury.

UFC president Dana White said in November the Jones-Miocic bout is still in the works when Jones is ready to fight again.

It would make sense for Aspinall to get a shot at Jones to unify the title, but UFC also has a history of opting to make the marquee fight that will sell tickets and pay-per-views at the expense of logical booking.

If Pereira agrees to fight at heavyweight against Jones in the future, it wouldn't be a surprise if he got that spot ahead of Aspinall at some point.