Jon Jones was stunned by Alex Pereira's first round finish over Jamahal Hill.
Spotted on the promotion's landmark card at UFC 300 in Las Vegas, 'Poitin' will defend his light heavyweight title against a former champion desperate to regain the championship he has never lost. I bet for the first time. Jamahal Hill talked about the big game coming at the 205-pound headliner, but it took just over three minutes for Pereira to say it all with his fists.
After absorbing a low blow and shaking off referee Herb Dean seconds later, Pereira landed a nasty left uppercut on Hill that instantly put Sweet Dreams to sleep. Hill came close enough to see his fists flying one after the other until Dean intervened and stopped the opening round bout.
Reactions to this insane knockout fight flooded social media, with some of MMA's biggest stars weighing in, including undisputed UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who responded to the epic finish. I shared my impressions of the two works.
“So-so.” Jones wrote to X.
Is Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira a possibility?
Immediately after the contest, Alex Pereira called for a quick change of direction and challenged interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall at UFC 301 on May 4th.
“I want to keep this belt,” Pereira said. “We talked a lot about fighting in Brazil if we win this fight. I won this fight. I wasn't hurt. Nothing happened. There was a lot of promotion behind the fight. I know that, but I want to fight at heavyweight.”
Pereira vs. Aspinal is unlikely to happen, at least not on such short notice, but Pereira likes the idea of moving to heavyweight more than defending his 205-pound title against his next opponent. Then who can argue? In particular, the next candidate for “Poitan” is likely to be Russian standout Magomed Ankalaev.
Who knows…if the UFC grants Peria's wish, maybe we'll see “Poitan” fight Jon Jones someday, but that's probably just wishful thinking.
