Jon Jones still believes the Alex Pereira fight would have been a quick night’s work.
“Bones” spent months campaigning for a heavyweight showdown with Pereira before the two sides failed to reach a deal, sending Poatan into an interim title fight with Ciryl Gane at UFC White House instead, a bout Pereira lost by second-round knockout. Speaking with ALF Global in an interview recorded before that event, Jones explained why he liked the matchup so much.
I watched Pereira train. I see his level of wrestling and it’s way behind. I feel as if Stipe Miocic is a true heavyweight. He’s a big, big boy. Ciryl Gane, when you see him in person, he’s a big, big boy. Alex Pereira is not a big, big boy. He’s a lean guy. I think right now he weighs maybe 250.
To Jones, that size and grappling gap pointed to one clear finish.
I feel as if my physical strength would have been too much for him. I felt as if the moment I would have gotten him to the ground, my submissions would have come pretty quickly. I mean, everyone knows that. I think that’s the clearest path to victory for me against Alex Pereira. But we’re not fighting. I am a fan of him.
Jones also fielded a hypothetical about his old rival Daniel Cormier, a decorated Olympic-level wrestler, and didn’t blink at the idea of beating him in a straight grappling match. It’s a bold claim given Cormier’s pedigree, but confidence has never been something Jones lacks.
The former two-division champion hasn’t competed since beating Gane in March 2023, though he’s kept the door open on a return while remaining in the UFC’s testing pool.
