Jon Jones and Alex Pereira is a fight booking that the two seem quite keen to participate in with a prominent MMA analyst foreseeing that blockbuster bout taking place next year. That individual being referenced is Chael Sonnen who mentioned this during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show.
Touching on the potential of that heavyweight matchup happening and how that plays into the need for clarity with the light heavyweight title picture with Pereira helming over that division, Sonnen said,
Pereira and Jones social media talk—the fight is coming in 2026. But Jon Jones is the only fighter not wanting to fight. He took three years off to drink protein shakes, sitting out on suspension.
He jumped back in the pool, can’t decide. If Jon thinks Pereira will sit and do nothing at age 38, it’s not going to solve anything. Jon could call out and fight Pereira in February or March and then do something else.
But instead, Pereira is pointing at heavyweight, and we need to listen to that. If Pereira stays at heavyweight, we need to vacate the belt and move on.
Jon Jones takes shot at Tom Aspinall following UFC 321 eye poke
Jon Jones couldn’t resist getting in a dig at UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall who was poked in the eyes during his recent title defense with Ciryl Gane which led to an anticlimactic no contest at UFC 321. The Jones-Aspinall title unification discourse domianted the media cycle for quite a while with the former eventually retiring and vacating the belt which led then-interim champion Aspinall to become the undisputed champion outright.
In the wake of the inauspicious ending to the Abu Dhabi-based heavyweight title fight, Jones made reference to the main event outcome when he changed his social media picture of a duck to a duck with an eye patch over it. ‘Bones’ also shared a post that someone put up regaridng the Aspinall vs. Gane clash comparing the time duration where Jones finished Gane, contrasted with how long the Aspinall vs. Gane fight was. Jones would impose text over that post which said ‘never forget who the GOAT is.’
Jones defeated Gane in a bit over two minutes to claim the then-vacant heavyweight strap in 2023 while Gane-Aspinall was called off a bit over four and a half minutes in.
