A recently retired UFC fighter believes the promotion could cash in big time by having reigning light heavyweight kingpin Alex Pereira challenge his heavyweight counterpart, Jon Jones.
The possibility of Jones facing Pereira was barely a topic when the former debuted at heavyweight by winning the then-vacant title back in March 2023. At the time, “Poatan” occupied the throne at 185 pounds.
But since the end of his middleweight reign the following month, Pereira has moved up to light heavyweight and marked himself as one of the promotion’s leading stars by achieving two-division glory.
And a string of three straight title defenses in 2023 has left many calling for the Brazilian kickboxing specialist to move up again in pursuit of a historic achievement — championship glory in three separate weight classes.
Though Pereira was dismissive of an immediate heavyweight jump in the aftermath of his victory over Khalil Rountree at UFC 307 earlier this month, many are hoping for the promotion to push for it should Jones keep hold of his gold beyond next month’s Madison Square Garden event.
During a recent episode of MMA Fighting’s The Fighter vs. The Writer podcast, former UFC welterweight Matt Brown touched on the topic and was firm in his belief when it comes to the magnitude of the potential clash.
“I don’t doubt this could be as big as any Conor fight,” Brown said. “This could be promoted to the max. They could do it (International) Fight Week or one of the gigantic cards maybe at the Sphere, something crazy. This could be enormous. Jon’s a smart guy. He’s here for the money now, I think. Legacy and money and Alex is going to bring that. It could be promoted as much as you want to promote. This could be the money fight. It’s heavyweight, too. Heavyweight fights always bring a stigma to them that those lighter fights just don’t bring.
“Conor obviously brought the trash talk and all the antics, the funny stuff and the cool stuff, there’s a certain aura when Conor comes into the cage,” Brown continued. “But there’s a different aura that can be sold here when Jon Jones, the greatest of all-time, who just beat the greatest heavyweight of all-time — assuming that happens — fighting another guy trying to do the biggest thing of all-time, (become) a three-weight world champion. I can’t think of a bigger fight outside of Conor, but I think it could be as big as any Conor fight.”
The bout has evidently been discussed internally, with UFC CEO Dana White revealing earlier this year that color commentator Joe Rogan has been pushing for “Poatan” and “Bones” to be matched up.
For the time being, Jones has his focus on the returning Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. Beyond that, most believe any continued stay in the sport as an active fighter should see him unify the heavyweight title against Aspinall.
But perhaps the UFC would share Brown’s view on the draw of Jones vs. Pereira instead.
