All signs are pointing toward Jon Jones defending his strap against Stipe Miocic next time out, but he may have a new contender.
Since capturing the heavyweight throne, Jones has had a target on his back. The Hall-of-Famer is being eyed by a number of elite fighters, and one man who is passionate about getting that fight remains Tom Aspinall.
While Aspinall has been pushing for the mega fight, it seems Dana White may go in a different direction. According to the UFC CEO, Alex Pereira could steal the Jon Jones fight, under one condition.
“This guy [Alex Pereira] is a killer, everybody loves him,” White said during a recent interview. “To think about him moving up to heavyweight when you talk about guys like Ciryl Gane, Aspinall, Volkov. I mean, these guys are monsters.”
“Ciryl Gane is huge, man. He’s huge, he’s athletic, he’s powerful. I like Alex. Alex is a savage. Let Alex do what he’s doing in his division.”
“You know what, if he wipes out the entire division, and we’re sitting here going, ‘Who’s next?’ Then maybe you let him move up to heavyweight and do some type of super fight there.”
Listen to Dana White’s opinion on Alex Pereira, Jon Jones, and more below.
This isn’t the first time Jon Jones and Alex Pereira have been rumored to fight.
Related: Jon Jones eyeing ‘massive’ fight with Alex Pereira
At the height of his feud with Tom Aspinall, Jones took interest in a matchup against the seemingly unstoppable ‘Poatan’.
Pereira hinted at the possibility of moving up to heavyweight in search of a historic third UFC title. This captured the attention of Jon Jones who, in turn, called out the Brazilian.
‘Bones’ believes beating a killer like Alex Pereira would be huge for his legacy. Though, he is first looking to get past the threat posed by the vastly experienced Stipe Miocic.
